A Flame's Theft
by LittlewriterLink
Summary: The world is in peril once more; yet the hero that gathered the sages and saved the strange lands plagued by the watching moon had vanished without a trace, because of his deeds many boys born of this time were named after the hero; though many don't live up to the hero's name, this is a story of someone who did with the help of a few pieces of wood and a lot of luck.
1. A Nights Work

**Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART.**

Chapter One – A Night's Work

An owl's hoot disturbed the silence of the castle guard. The armoured soldiers marched along the stone walls, their tired eyes peering through windows in the brick for any intruders trying to cross the rapid water that was flowing through the moat into town. The night had been quiet and relatively peaceful even the stars twinkled like little nightlights in the clear skies above. The peace was only to be disturbed by an orange glow coming close to a giant drawbridge that was raised up for the night, through the dark and abandoned streets, clear of the townspeople.

"Halt!" a guard shouted pushing his hand out at the carrier of the orange glow "What business do you have in the field at this hour?"

The carrier of the glow said nothing; they only placed a small iron lantern on the cobblestone in remark.

"I ask again, state your business!" the guard growled coming towards the stranger. The stranger was a boy, no older that fifteen, hidden in a cape; the only thing showing through it was a small pointed chin and a pair of hands, the left of which was gloved in leather. The boy did not say a single word; his shadowed eyes just stared at the drawbridge as several guards aimed their crossbows at him, the boy could hear ever click of the safety on their weapons, yet he smiled.

The guard reached for the hood of his cape and attempted to pull it back but the boy gripped his wrist tightly so that the leather of his glove made a sound. The very action both shocking and angering the guard as the boy's hidden eyes continued to face the drawbridge. The boy pushed back slightly, releasing the man from his grasp and picked up his lantern before starting to walk forward again, seemingly unaware of the danger he had put himself in.

"Shoot him!" the guard squealed. The boy halted and lifted his arm up so that the arrow stuck into it, the guard stood up and pointed his spear at the boy as not one drop of crimson stained the cobblestone. The boy even pulled the arrow out of his arm before turning around and retreating into the shadows of the nearby streets "It's him again!"

The boy let out a startled gasp and started running, arrows stabbing through the cobblestones as he crossed them, he dashed around the back of a building as the sound of feet began to echo through the empty streets and lowered the sleeves of his cape to tut at the block of wood hidden on his right arm. It had saved him from the pain of the point and he was thankful for it. Torches were lit and the mood of the town changed from the sleepy shelter he had come out to, to about as safe as walking on lava. He let out a groan and edged across the brick wall that his back was against till his hands touched some leaves, blowing his lantern out, he quickly climbed up and crawled across the red roof tiles to the chimney. Lanterns and torches filled the streets like an orange river along with spears and other sharp things that would hurt when touched so the cover of darkness was no longer his friend and there was no way he was throwing himself into meaningless danger like that. He removed his hood to show a pair of sea blue eyes and blond hair that was close to brown and was tied up in a leather band, underneath his cape was a long bow, the string crossing his shirt, and a tanned quiver with arrows on his back; each arrow with a red feather on the end; with this, he had a small pouch on his left hip that was shut with an old button. He carefully removed the bow from under his cape and pulled a small coil of rope from his back; tying the end of the rope around the arrow, he crouched down on the tiles to shoot the arrow at a building across the town, managing to hit his target, another chimney, and pull the rope tight before it touched the ground, he tied the other end around the chimney with a loose knot.

He swung himself up and began to pull himself along the rope as silent as the wind, praying that no one would look up, being unable to protect himself in his position.  
After reaching the roof, he tugged the arrow out of the chimney and pulled at the rope to let the knot come away on the other chimney and land on the cobblestone. As he did so he felt something tug on the other side; a familiar weight; one that he smiled at. Gripping with her teeth on the end of the rope was a dark chocolate coloured dog with the pinkest of noses; really just a puppy. On her back was a green bag that was tied up with rope. He scratched her behind the ears and tapped his shoulder. The little dog jumped up and lay down to let him tie the coil of rope he had pulled around her to keep her tied onto his back.

The boy rubbed his fingers across the underside of his boots to let a small knife blade come out at the toes and stabbed them into the walls, climbing up the wall like a spider.  
He looked left and right before jumping over the side of the wall into the moat below, the water being pelted with arrows as he swum through the bars that blocked of the rough waters from the main river.

Safe.

The boy surfaced with a throaty gasp in the river, his limbs tired with fighting the current. He hauled himself onto land and untied the soaked puppy from his back before lying down; the puppy pawed his arm and yapped in his face to get him to play, but the boy sliced the air with his hand to silence her. The pup obeyed. He let out a light chuckle and patted his shoulder to let her snuggle for a hug for a moment. He had found the pup only a couple of months ago in a ditch with her drowned siblings but she was growing fast with a beautiful coat and hyper personality, though she was still very young, the pup rarely acted like one on the job, understanding hers perfectly and staying in the zone till it was done.

He had given her a name. Pippa.

Pippa wagged her long tail and licked his cheek with a rough pink tongue that told him she had been in the rubbish bins again. Though he had given her a bath which made her look twice as big, the loyalty she showed meant that she would be by his side no matter what happened.

The sun would be rising soon and they needed to be out of sight. Now. The boy jumped up and picked up Pippa in one hand before whistling with the other. He began to break into a run as a chestnut horse came galloping out of the shadows, coming to the call of her master. He slipped Pippa into a small pouch just her size by the reigns before jumping on himself. Pippa loved riding up here, she could see for miles and the speed they went made her cheeks blow up like balloons. She barked at her master, he stroked her behind the ears and flicked the reigns, disappearing in a cloud of dust from the angered town.

The boy slowed down the horse and walked through a gate. A small village that he had grown up in greeted him. The morning sun had not alarmed anyone to wake yet, but the sky was still turning pink and yellow. The boy stroked the mare and patted his shoulder for the pup to jump on; she missed and landed in his arms, putting her small paws onto his chest.

If dogs could smile. She would be.

The boy gently placed her in the grass and began to unload the horse as a wooden door without a window opened in a brick building in front of him. A girl stood in the doorway, no older than him, in a white dress with a simple orange flower in the middle, her hair was brown and tied into a ponytail down her back; she wore no shoes but her feet were clean.

"Link! You're back!" the girl shrieked jumping down the brick steps and running into the boy's arms, he smiled, Pippa growled with jealousy. Link still said nothing but let out a contented sigh. "Did you get it?"

He nodded and reached a hand into his cape. Bringing out a small grey bag out that was tied tight with dark string through the loops within it. He offered it to the girl

"Mother will be pleased you got back safely. She worries." the girl mumbled

Link swallowed hard

"Mother's okay. She will be with the spores, you did get them right?" the girl giggled giving him a light punch on the shoulder that made him grimace; but he nodded anyway. "Why are you wet?"

Link rolled his eyes and opened his mouth as if to speak, yet said nothing.

"You can tell me later. We need to take some this time." the girl spoke giving him the same eyes Pippa was giving him on the ground.

Link nodded once and picked up Pippa on the floor. She licked his face and pawed his chest as he let out a yawn. She whined with concern for her master as he took his cargo and her inside the house the child had run into.

Inside was closed off by shutters; that only let through pencil thin rays of morning sunshine. Link put the pup down and let her dive into a well-earned bowl of wet food, her face getting covered in the remains of meat from last night's meal to the point of her hind legs lifting from the floor till she was doing a handstand in her bowl.  
Link untied the bag from her back and placed them on the table. Then he turned on his heel and thumped his head against the wall to his side. He hated stealing. _Loathed_ it with a great passion, but he could not afford the rupees for the medicine they so desperately needed.

He was tired of putting himself in danger that could have him killed but he could not think to even look his mother in the eyes if he had failed her. After all, he had done this for two years. He had taught himself how to shoot; as the man of the house, his father, was nowhere to be found. Though, he had been left the bow and a few red feathered arrows before he vanished from their lives forever, even so they were true to their targets for their age.

That was why he had left them with him.

Link let a tired tear trickle down his face. Mother was getting sicker by the day; he was not sure how long he could keep his family smiling. It scared him. His sister, Rosie; looked after their mother night and day while he was out. Getting any rupees he could earn by working in the day or stealing at night. Thankfully Rosie had no idea how he got the medicine; he could not bear the thought of her innocent life being exposed to his criminal one.

After all, he was only fifteen.

Link shook his head and unpacked the cargo in the small cupboards. The scratched glass bottles that held the dark mushroom spores he had stolen and placed a small loaf of crusty, stale bread next to it with another bottle of milk. He closed the cupboard door and dipped his hands in his pockets with a sigh.

A single green rupee.

That was not nearly enough for food for later in the week. He would have to steal again.  
Pippa barked and put her paws on his feet. Link crouched down and scratched her behind the ears. She barked again with a concerned whine and dashed outside through a hole in a lower cupboard that served as an entrance and exit for her.

Link rolled his eyes and walked into an even smaller room. Greeted with a rag that served as a moth covered door; the patterns within it were old and worn now, unable to be depicted from each other. He pushed the rag out of the way and sat down on his knees on the floor; his eyes facing the flickering candles that lit the room.

"Link?" a voice asked as a hand came into his room. Link did not move. He kept his hands on his knees and his gaze lowered. "It's alright, son."

Link looked up for a moment to see the fragile body in front of him, wrapped in old, dusty sheets on a bed made of rotting wood and straw. Hidden within the sheets was a woman, no older than forty, yet had the wrinkly skin of a person in their late-eighties; her dark blue eyes were like vast oceans and her toothless mouth was rolling around in her skull as she tried to swallow the tiny rough leaves that Rosie was dropping into her mouth.

"Here, Link." Rosie mumbled offering the grey bag that was still full of leaves to him. He dipped a hand in and swallowed the leaves with Rosie, both grimacing at the taste. The taste was peculiar; one where you either loved it or hated it, it was different to everyone, but swallowing more than one at a time made the tastes merge together and taste like you were eating socks that had been worn for a whole year without washing. Link clicked his fingers. "I'm fine, Link. You don't have to check."

Link glared at her and clicked them again, raising an eyebrow as he did so.

"Rosie, Link gets concerned about us too." the woman in the bed moaned folding her shaking arms. Rosie rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out, the leaves had stained it bright red. Link nodded and stuck his own out

"Yours is red too. I told you." Rosie snorted; they both turned their gaze to their mother, who had jokingly stuck her tongue out too. They held back their grimaces. Her tongue had been stained brown by the leaves; her tongue so rough it looked like tiny mushrooms were growing on it. Rosie jumped up and broke into the cupboard, reaching for the jar of mushroom spores; she offered them to their mother by pouring some into a shallow dish so not to waste a speck.

Link's eyes travelled to an empty bucket that sat in the corner and stood up, his mother half guessing where he was going. Link was very much like his late father, loving the outdoors. He threw a shawl over his shoulder and picked up a basket of clothes.

"Link!" his mother snapped clicking her fingers, Link flattened his ears and turned on his heel. "You have been awake all day and all night. You should sleep first."

Link shook his head with a yawn and tapped the basket with his fingers, lifting his eyebrows and widening his eyes

His mother sighed out loud, knowing she was not going to win against the provider of the household.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

A little earlier than I planned but hey, I think it's a good start, this is a stand alone story compared to the others I've wrote recently, upload days will be on Saturdays (29th March onwards), I just felt like uploading today for some unexplainable reason. Plus, I love to hear your comments and stuff. Yay! Also fans of my previous stories, thanks for sticking around! I couldn't do this without you guys, though I don't always get to reply to your comments, I read them all! :D  
So what do you think? I've taken on the challenge of making Link completely silent, which is REALLY hard, oh well, to late to change it now and I always like a challenge. What do you think of Pippa? She's of my own creation and I think she's a good little character.


	2. The Bottom Of The Well

**Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART.**

Chapter Two - The Bottom Of The Well

Link washed his hands in the sink using a bar of soap that Pippa had nearly swallowed thinking it was food once. He was unsure if the taste of lavender was changing her appetite slightly as the Cuccos outside were getting a little braver with her around them now. Every night he would have to brush her coat free of feathers when she had pounced on one, wanting them to play with her. Of course, the Cuccos were used to her bouncing around, falling over her feet when she got excited, as pups often do.

He carried out the bucket and walked the short distance to the well. A stone well that kept every person and animal well watered. He tied the bucket to the small string that was attached to the wooden post above the well itself.

"Morning, Link!" a cheery voice came from behind him, startling him and making him fall headfirst into the well with a shallow splash. "Whoops. Are you alright?"

Link glanced up at her with a silent moan. But his frown suddenly changed to horror as the water had dried up; almost every drop had vanished from the well, apart from the shallow puddle that Link had crashed into. His feet were just off the ground, kicking the little stones that occupied the floor; but his waist was above the water level. He had known that the water was emptying from the well, but the clouds were thick with rain and the wind was to cool for drought.

"I know, right? That brain of yours is working; isn't it?" the cheery voice giggled cannonballing into the water. Soaking him even more and renewing his frown. "Don't give me that look. It's fun."

Link brushed his hair out of his eyes and stared at the person in front of him. A charming, if not loud young girl at fourteen years old swum before him, she had short curly red hair that stopped at her shoulders and bright green eyes; her clothes consisted of a bright blue dress with a darker blue edging and V-neck collar and a pair of brown sandals. Link sighed, as the girl lay a hand on his shoulder and splashed more water in his face.

Link lowered his shoulders and cocked his head to the side.

"What?" the girl smirked following his gaze to the wall behind her. There was a small crack in the bricks that built it up the well. Link put a hand to his chin in thought and leaned against the wall, staring into the crack. "That's where all the water's going?" the girl smirked putting an eye to the hole, Link threw his arms into the air.

The girl began to pull out a loose brick and dropped in the water, then another, and another. Link grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her back as more of the water around them began to trickle through the gap she had made. She glanced at him; closing her eyes as a little brown rock fell from the top of the well next to Link. Link let out a noticeable tut as the little brown rock was not a little brown rock, but a wet puppy covered in white feathers.

Pippa barked at the two-legged as she swum in the wet, spitting out a few feathers as her master scooped her up. Master pointed to some square stones that were higher up and knelt down to push some of the grey stones that were in the wet. Master had a nice furless face for being a two-legged; it always wore happiness, or at least most of the time. The corners of his mouth would turn upward and sometimes it would open when he was really happy with her, though his tongue never lolled over his teeth like hers. She could tell Master was tired, he was yawning a lot and his eyes were never fully open unless he was barking at someone in his silent voice. He needed rest. She barked for his attention as the she-two-legged continued to move more grey stones; he looked at her with his grey eyes. They were bright but dull at the same time. She whined at him, tilting her head to the side. Master stroked her head, using his short brush like nails to dig into her coat. It was lovely. She relaxed in his arms with a sigh as the she-two-legged clambered into the hole she had made. Master was a little more reluctant to follow.

Link cradled the pup in his arms and climbed through the hole to where his friend was. She ran on ahead leaving him to look around the old well. The bricks were slimy and damp with the water that was constantly flowing through and all light had vanished from within as the remains of soaked torches hung on the walls, clogged with mildew.

"Come on, Link!" the girl shouted from the end of the corridor. Link put Pippa down on the ground and yanked out a torch from the wall; feeling for a dry spot on the wall beneath it, he ran the end up the bricks to light it. The walls were so damp that the bricks crumbled at his touch. With a defeated sigh he lowered his arm and looked at the wall curiously, the torch strike may not have made the torch light but had made a straight white line that was visible in the dark. His hand tightened on the torch as he followed the girl. Pippa at his heels.

"Where's your brother, Rosie? It doesn't take him that long to get water." Link's mother asked braiding her orange hair in her shaking fingers

"I don't know." Rosie shrugged washing her hands "Pippa's gone looking for him so I wouldn't worry."

"Ah, Pippa, she loves him." her mother sighed leaning back on her pillow "They have been inseparable since he found her."

"Why did you let him keep her, Mother?" Rosie complained

Her mother looked appalled. "You know Link's condition. Having a friend that is about as silent as him makes their bond strong. I am never going to ask him to put her out. He's trained her well."

"I wouldn't call it a 'condition'" Rosie snorted, her mother sliced the air with her hand

"Link doesn't have a proper voice, Rosie. I told you this when you were very young. Though he makes sounds like grunts and gasps, he doesn't have the power to speak words."

"Mother, I've heard it all before."

"Then you should be reminded of it."

"Mother, you should get some rest, save your strength."

"You have no idea what your brother does for us." her mother grunted shutting her eyes.  
For she had worked out why Link would sneak off at dawn for the medicine when it would only take him half the day to get to town and back, it also made sense why he was always doing chores when he came home. To pay back for his criminal acts and clear his mind. Though Link had a good reason for stealing, she knew he would never steal unless he had to; that was why Rosie could never know why he always took his bow to get the medicine. She would hate herself if he got caught or if Pippa got snatched. "And that is something that you should never find out."

Pippa barked at Master, her paws were soaked with trotting in the shallow water around them. Master needed rest. Now. But no matter how much she tugged at his chewy-paws, he never swayed from following the she-two-legged. Master picked her up and placed her on his shoulder, she liked being up here, though it was still as dark as on the floor. The she-two-legged shouted something in two-legged language that she could not understand. Master rolled his eyes and began to run, slow, but fast for a two-legged. They came to a hole where there was wet, Master knelt down and dipped his furless paws into the wet and stuck his tongue out. The wet smelled bad, though the two-legged could not smell it, she could; it smelled like rotten meat, a smell that had caught her nose before, but hoped that she would never smell again. For some reason though, the scent of rotten meat was moving and not with the air like normal scents. This one was moving in steps like a two-legged or feathered dog. Pippa yapped at Master, falling off his shoulder in alarm. Master turned his head and caught her before she hit the stone floor. She continued to yap, backing up slightly and raising her head up high to carry the sound of her howls.

"What's up with Pippa?" the girl asked folding her arms. Link glanced at the howling pup and held out a hand. Pippa whined and ducked her tail in between her legs. Link's ears flicked up as something bashed into the wall cracking the bricks slightly and crumbling some dust from them into the stinking water.

Link grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her back as a brick crashed into the water to reveal a skeletal arm and hand clawing at the bricks at the scent of the living. The girl let out a scream, Link let out an audible scream as well. Pippa barked them back to focus. Link nodded and crouched down so she could jump up on his back.

They skidded through the twisted tunnels they had crossed through using Link's markings till the bright morning light blinded them at the bottom of the well. Footsteps echoed within with roars of the skeletal monsters that followed their hot-footed trail. Link glanced around for a second; his gaze fell on the rope that the bucket was attached to then to his friend. Without another moment of thought he untied the bucket from the rope and tied it around his friend's waist. Before she could say a word of complaint; Pippa hopped from his shoulder onto hers as Link got her standing on his shoulders. The pup leapt for the swinging rope above and her jaws snapped shut. The little weight she carried brought the rope into the girl's reach that then lowered it into Link's. Pippa growled as Link hoisted the girl back up to the top of the well; the skeletal figures were starting to approach. Roaring their battle cries as they had found a boy. Pippa charged, narrowly dodging a rusty sword that struck the stones instead of her. Pippa snarled at a skeletal figure, barking her warnings and threats at their deaf ears. Link edged backwards till his hands touched the walls; his heart thumping against his chest.

"Link! Grab on!" the girl shouted from above lowering the rope to him. A skeletal figure however was leaning over him; staring through tiny green ovals they called eyes. It roared in his face, a roar so loud and powerful that Link's hair blew in its breath from its toothless jaw. It suddenly let out a scream in shock as Pippa dug her teeth into the skeletal figure's left leg, going for the ankle bone more than the leg itself as she was too small to reach otherwise. She clung on as the skeletal figure as it thumped her with its shield arm, forcing her to roll into Link's feet; her jaws still clinging onto the monster's foot.

Link picked up his irritable and sore pup in his arms, scratching her behind the ears to comfort her as he turned his back on the skeletal figure that raised its sword

"Link, catch!" the girl shouted as a bow clonked on the skeletal figure's forehead. The quiver of arrows and tool-pouch bashing into it shortly after. Link opened his tool-pouch with his free hand and sprinkled his arrow tips with black powder, striking them up the wall he let them hiss in his hand. Before the skeletal figure could react, the bricks exploded around them. Covering it and its friend in debris.

Link leaned against a wall in the tunnel with a silent laugh of nervousness, clinging onto his most treasured of possessions: his beautiful long bow and quiver and his trusty pup. He heard Pippa give a sigh of relief as she chewed the foot to pieces, but never swallowing it. Link looked up from her; most of the exit was blocked off, barely any room to squeeze through; so that only left the option to walk through the tunnels to find an exit.

He placed Pippa on the floor and pulled out a small worn out candle, no bigger than a tea-light from the tool-pouch and lit it by making sparks on the wall with a clean arrow. Next he felt around for a torch and touched the orange flame to the wood, it lit up almost immediately.

And Pippa wanted to carry it.

Of course, the stick was much bigger than her and she kept dropping it, so Link was sure to bring another lit one, just in case. Pippa looked offended, after all; sticks were a dog's thing.

They wandered around for what seemed like forever till they came to the place the skeletal figures came from. Beyond the water, there was a dark blue chest and stone sign to the side of it. Link lifted a finger to his face at Pippa. She plonked her backside down in slight annoyance; she wanted to follow him across the water but one torch out was enough.

Link rubbed his fingers across the sign, the words almost unreadable with age combating them.

_The key to water is ice and the key to ice is wood._

Link glanced over at the chest, his eyes swerving from the sign and it for about a minute. He opened the chest and coughed with the dust that had erupted from inside. Though, he had not expected the chest to be a tunnel to somewhere.

Link rolled his eyes at the sound of Pippa's whines and tapped his left hip. He dropped the torch and dived into the water, her tongue lying over her teeth as he placed her on his stomach and strapped his bow over his shoulder.

They slid down the tunnel with a sharp intake of his breath.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

That place gives me the creeps. A little more on Link and Pippa's relationship there. Pippa gets her very own POV in this story so that's why some of the language is odd. It's early! Whoo!

You have to work out what she is talking about but to the people who are already rushing to comment that it makes no sense, I'll give you a hint, because it's only going to get harder.

Pippa's vocab

Master - Link  
Two-legged - human  
He/she-two-legged - male/female human  
Chewy-paws - shoes or boots  
Feathered dog - birds  
Paws - feet or hands  
Wet - water or liquid

If you still don't understand, I am open to your questions anytime.


	3. Ice

**Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART.**

Chapter Three - Ice

Link was sure his back would be covered in grime by now. He had lost track of the time they had been sliding and Pippa was starting to get restless on his front. He stroked her with a hand down her back as the slide in the chest suddenly ended, dropping them on the damp stone floor.

Pippa let out a whine and sniffed the ground as Link rose to his feet, rubbing his backside and grimacing at the sight of his back. He did the washing and these stains were _not_ going to come out easily.

The tunnel was small with a tiny blue light at the end of it; it sounded like it was humming. Pippa barked and dived towards it; trying to snap it up in her jaws but as soon as she was close to the little light, it vanished. Pippa barked when it reappeared behind her; but the light zoomed straight towards Link, hovering around his treasured bow. He took a worried step back as the little blue light flew up to his face, bathing the bridge of his nose in gentle blue light and touching either side of his nose with a pair of tiny blue hands that were surrounded by smoke. Link stared into the unblinking eyes of the creature with unease, eyes of snow white stared back, and the body of the creature was as hazy as the smoke that clouded around it.

Pippa snarled at his feet causing the creature to turn peach in colour, tiny fists falling to their sides, the peach slowly turned to sunset orange and the eyes changed from the pupiless white to an angry red.

"Leave this place." it said, with a voice louder than he had anticipated it to have. Link fell over backwards as Pippa jumped into his arms trying to snap up the light. "I said, leave!" the creature bellowed, throwing its tiny arms into the air, sending sparks in all directions from its finger tips. Link cuddled Pippa as she growled at the creature who shouted.

"Flame!" a male voice shouted, footsteps echoed in the tunnel "Quit scaring the boy!"

The one named Flame growled out loud and flew down the tunnel which was shorter than they had expected. The creature turned blue once more and with the rattle of a lantern had vanished. Link braced himself for attack but an elderly man with a slight limp came into view, waving the blue lamp. His chin stuck out to show a few yellow teeth over his top lip and his tired, black eyes were perched just above a square nose and his head hung low on hunched shoulders. He carried the lantern in a raised right hand and his other was clenched into a small fist. Not a single hair was on his head or on his shoulders as he half limped towards Link, offering his free hand to the shaking pile of boy.

"Why can't I go out?" Flame roared; its voice respectfully male "The other's do and they are fine!"

"You will be quiet, Flame!" the man grunted "It is alright, child. Flame is a good Poe Light. He will not harm you."

Link nodded and took the man's hand. Pippa growled at him till Link hissed through his teeth like a snake sharply. She settled down in his hands again.

"You have a brave Labrador. What is her name?" the man whispered stroking the pup behind the ears to calm her fiery temper, though the touch was not the same as her master's hand.

Link mouthed her name. Pippa glanced up at him as if he had said it out loud, her hazel eyes giving him her full attention

"A mute? That's a new one, Flame." the man grumbled, looking into his lamp with an angry glare

"Don't look at me!" shook the lamp, turning a nasty shade of red "It's not my fault!"  
Link lifted a hand up and opened his mouth slightly as he slipped Pippa onto his shoulder.

"It is not alright!" the man snapped flicking the lamp

"I didn't do it! There isn't a voice to give back!" the lamp roared back

"You have been mute your whole life?" the man asked giving him a funny look; Link swallowed hard and nodded a reply.

The man said nothing but kept giving him that look; an unsure smirk. Link felt his ear being licked by Pippa as she tried to end the awkward silence.

"My name is Dampé. Can I ask how you got here?" the man asked setting the lamp down to the grumpy remarks of the one inside as Link began to 'chatter', opening and shutting his mouth as quick as it would let him, his arms followed suit, acting out all that had happened. Dampé let out a nervous laugh that made the boy pause mid-action. "Sorry lad, but I don't understand what you are going on about."

Link let out a sigh in frustration and flapped his arms in motion with each other, keeping his elbows in and hands flat as if to demonstrate his point. Dampé just shook his head. Link let out a growl and buried his head in his hands

"Can you write?"

Link glanced up with a sharp turn of his head, his eyes beaming at the idea. Pippa nearly fell off his shoulder.

"Follow me; I know where there is a note pad and pencil." Dampé spoke picking up the lantern and limping forward "You coming, child?"

Link glanced back for a second and tightened his quiver around his waist; pulling his grubby, tanned shirt down and let Pippa off his shoulder; she tucked her tail between her legs, her teeth bared in a growl. Link tapped his left hip as he passed her but the pup did not move an inch. Link turned his back on her and tapped his left hip a little harder, clicking his tongue as he did so; but Pippa refused to follow.

She hated Master when he was unhappy. But he could not smell the stench coming from the he-two-legged that was moving away from them, it was that of death; however this smell had a flowery scent compared to the one from earlier; no, it was the bright grey hot-beast-without-hot in the case that was frightening her. It smelt ill, but not sick.  
The sick-she-two-legged in the den where Master and the smaller she-two-legged slept smelt similar but she was sick. The hot-beast-without-hot in the case was something to be feared, not talked to in two-legged language. She barked at Master not to follow, begging him to listen like he always did but he could not understand her; though he was remaining where he was; he was unsure of the danger, she could smell it on him.

"Your pup is frightened, child." Dampé muttered halting his steps "Though I am nothing to fear and Flame is tame."

Pippa growled a remark, showing her pearl white teeth. Link chewed his lip and picked up the pup, she struggled in his arms. Link nearly dropped her in a panic. She yapped at him, growling and snarling in a menacing way at him, then she turned on Dampé; bounding forward for the lamp he held. Her paws smashing the glass that shielded Flame from her teeth and claws

"Get her off me!" Flame shouted as Pippa jumped up as he flew out of her reach. She growled at him from below; sitting her backside down to wait for him to flutter down.

Link came over and put a hand on his heart, lowering his head slightly

"No need to apologise. Dogs can sense stuff we can't. Flame must be annoying her somehow." Dampé replied putting a hand on his head "I know you can't speak, but you couldn't have come here unless the water from the well had gone; Li-he made sure that it was full. Perhaps the rocks have fallen and blocked the dam."

Link shrugged but shot him a questionable look.

He had managed to drag Pippa away from Flame, but all the time she never stopped growling. He could feel it in her throat as he carried her; her eyes always watching for the little haze that occupied the lamp. Dampé opened a large stone door at the end of a long corridor, one filled with flames of different colours, greens, pinks and blues were some of the colours that Link noticed while following the incredibly fast man around yet more twisted tunnels. It was a while before they got to a small pedestal with a large stone in the middle and a hole in front of it. Link could hear the drip-drip-drip of water on the floor, though he could not see a thing as Flame had gone in the huff with being chased around by Pippa; Link had sensed she was not playing, more fighting him off for some reason.

"He spent weeks down there; building all these tunnels and circuits so I could li-stay here in peace, but well, it appears the rocks have fallen." Dampé conversed, but Link's gaze was focused on a small blue object that was lighting up the room below; it was no bigger than one of his arrows. With haste the boy jumped down, leaving Pippa above chasing Flame around as he inspected the object.

It was an arrow. A normal wooden arrow with a blue tip.

The fletching of the arrow was feathered with two blue feathers unlike his red feathered ones and made of the strongest wood, so much so that the arrow would not snap over his raised knee. It was the point of the arrow that got all his attention though; the tip was light blue, the colour of ice but made of rock like most arrows; still he had never seen a blue rock before, the tip could be iron or gem of some kind, perhaps some rare fossil had gone into the making of the arrow. But then, he wondered, why was it here? There was no bow to shoot it from and target to shoot it to, Link's eyes fell on his own bow. It would be useless to try such a pretty arrow down here, but where could he shoot it without losing it?

"Don't forget your task, child!" Dampé called down "Li-he, he, left it there in case it was needed. You are a bowman yourself; surely you have seen an arrow like this?"  
Link shook his head and slipped the arrow into his quiver and ran a hand along the slime covered walls, his ear following suit, much to his disgust. Then suddenly, the sound of rushing water, he felt water running down his fingers also; his feet made contact with something on the ground, his boots getting covered in the cobwebs that surrounded it. Flame flew in lighting the room suddenly, Link took a quick glance around; the room had a low ceiling, just touching his head and had puddles of water on the floor that were ankle deep; apart from a cobwebbed hammer at his feet and slimy stone walls, there was nothing else here.

Link huffed and puffed to lift the hammer, nearly falling over backwards with its weight and struck the wall where he could hear the running water. Water began to dribble onto his soaked feet as he raised the hammer again, striking the wall again but in a slightly different spot. The rocks began to crumble and water began to jet out through the dents he had made in the rock. More holes and cracks began to form and spit out water with enough power to take the clothes from his skin.

"Child, get out of there!" Dampé screamed offering a hand to the boy. He lifted him up with more strength that he had predicted. The room below echoed as rocks the size of boulders splashed into the room, flooding the place "Leave! Climb up the slide!"  
Link grabbed Dampé's hand but the man did not move. Link stared at him but he shook his head.

"I can't leave this place. Water won't harm me. But it will to you! Go!" Dampé shouted in his ears pushing him away slightly. Link looked a little disheartened and whistled for Pippa, who ran to her master's feet upon command; the pair dashed away down the tunnel as the water came flooding out of the room "Good luck, child. May the Hero's instinct run through you." Dampé whispered fading away with Flame as water crashed in.

"Link? Where are you?" the girl shouted cupping her hands around her mouth as light began to flood through the tunnels from the well again.

"Are you sure he's in here? It isn't like him to explore." a man with red hair spoke, his stomach hanging over his belt.

"He's in here, listen." the girl said, upon hearing Pippa barking in the distance. Suddenly a strong wind began to blow through the tunnels, strong enough the shift the loose bricks to the far side of the well. Rumbling began; the entire well and tunnel shaking. Then suddenly it stopped with an explosion of blue light.

Link nearly fainted. While dodging the tsunami that was on his heels, he had had the sudden idea to use the blue arrow at the gaining wave.

And it had frozen solid.

He had no idea what had just happened. And by the look of it, neither did Pippa as she pawed the ice block unsurely. Link heard a crack and water began to trickle from it.

Without another moment of haste, he picked up Pippa in one hand and began to run spotting the light from the well on his path he sped up, just as the water caught his heels. He brought Pippa close to his chest and held his breath as the water rose up through the well, climbing the ancient walls to the people surrounding it. Including his red-haired friend who had just climbed out of the well at the wind's restart.

Link flew through the sky on the water jet that pushed him upward and landed on his stomach on the roof of a red tiled house nearby, with a groan his pained body began to roll down the roof and landed with a thump on the grass.

People began to come into view, concerned and amazed at the boy flying out of the well. Link could just feel Pippa on his stomach, snuggling into his neck and his bow digging into his back as he lay on it.

"Are you alright?" Link heard a voice say as the bucket from inside the well landed on his head, causing any sound that was made around him to be muffled by it.

The last thing he heard clearly were the words: _ice arrow._

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

On time and ready as always! :D Who remembers Dampe? What happened to him in Ocarina of Time, huh? Speaking of him, what happened to the Hero of Time himself? Dampe seems to have a clue. Did the Hero of Time leave that arrow for this Link, perhaps? We'll have to wait and see.


	4. Light At Night

**Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART.**

Chapter Four - Light At Night

Link let out a groan and rubbed his back through his clothes. He had a long bruise crossing his back from landing on his bow, thankfully he had not broken it; he just needed to repair the ends slightly so they could take the arrows again. But that was the least of his worries.

Link's gaze fell on his left hand, his draw hand; it was wrapped up in plaster. He let out a growl, how was he meant to steal with a broken wrist?!

"Ah, you're awake." a man whispered in the background. Link lay back down on the bed, which was really just a few hay bales and blankets and let out a loud snort to show he was listening. "Don't give me that attitude."

Link rolled his eyes, worry was sick in his head, how would he get medicine? How could he feed his family? They had barely a rupee to their name. The man came over to him, one he recognized as his friend's father.

"Pippa's been scratching at the back door for about half an hour, I didn't want to let her in, in case she went for your wrist." the man informed "Sarah told me you managed to get the water in the well again."

Link nodded but pulled the blankets off his legs, his feet were cold without his boots on. He pointed to his feet and rubbed them with his hands.

"Ah, your boots. Well they're drying by the fire along with the rest of your clothes." Sarah's father muttered throwing Link a thick shawl. Link put it on, hugging his bare arms as he wore his damp undershirt and his shorts. He lowered his head and sat by the fire with Sarah's father, questioning himself why they had brought him here and not home. Link could hear Pippa whining at the door, she could smell Master on the other side. Link stood up from the fire and opened the door to let the grumpy pup skid in.

She was annoyed to be away from Master like that. He had hurt his paw, it was all wrapped up in bedding; she knew better than to chew it. She sat in Master's lap as he sat by the hot-beast and rested her head on his knee, licking his sore paw; Master brushed her fur with his other paw. The he-two-legged said something to Master in two-legged language but she did not understand much; Master just nodded and lowered his furless face down to cuddle her. She liked cuddles, though she was getting a little big to sit on his shoulder now, not to mention heavier.

"Don't you think she should be an outdoor dog?" Sarah's father asked watching Link stroke Pippa. Link shook his head as the pup turned onto her back, offering her stomach to be rubbed.

"It's late now, Link. You seem to be alright now." he muttered, Pippa jerked her head towards him as Link picked her up "Good night, Link."

The door slammed on him as soon as they left. Though Sarah's father was the closest male adult to him at the moment; he was terrified of Pippa after she bit him the first time they met; Pippa had only been with Link a few days then. He sat down on the side of the well to watch the last rays of sunshine vanish behind the strong red mountains. The Gorons lived there, but he had never seen one in person. He gave Pippa a scratch and let his mind wander back to the days where he was without his four legged companion. How lonely life had been for him, all the people he saw every day would only half understand him; barely being able to get contact before anyone saw him, it made job hunting difficult; even in his little village. He had been lucky to find one with old Auru; he ran a small shop in Castle Town, Link had worked there since he was eleven and got discounted bread and milk from him but he could hand over every rupee of his wage and still not be able to pay for both the food and medicine. He had no idea why they were so poor, they never bought much, no new clothes or bedding; though Link had been forbidden to smash pots in the house he decided whenever he found a stray rupee in the grass, he would put it in there. Though he could not explain the reason why his rupee changed colour after a certain amount was put in the pot, but he could easily count it, sometimes he would spend a whole day thrashing around in the grass looking for money but would often find arrows, bombs and even some green pots that made him vomit with the taste.

It was raining the day he had found Pippa. The clouds had covered up the sunrise, Link had just surfaced from jumping over the town walls, soaking wet he had hauled himself up the banks with his bow. The precious bottles and packages he carried were damp in his pockets; but as he rubbed the water from his eyes, did he spot a sack on the river bank, thinking it was food or clothes someone had lost he had opened it, only to get a nasty nip and a growl. He had peered into the sack, inside was a tiny Labrador pup, soaked to the bone and two other puppies besides the one growling at him, the pup nuzzled the adult but got no reaction, the same with the pups. Link's heart nearly broke. Someone had drowned the poor animals, how cruel was that?! Link reached into the sack to pull the puppy out, grabbing it by the scruff of the neck and setting it in his lap. It growled and snarled at him, showing its sharp white teeth, it bit his fingers when he offered food to it. Link sighed then and called his horse over. But as he turned to go, the pup just whined at him. Unsure themself on what to do now. He had picked the pup up and slipped her into an empty pouch on his saddle and rode away with her. Over time, Pippa had got quite close to Link, never leaving his side after a thunderous night, even the roof tiles were flying around in the wind and huge hailstones pounded the ground. Pippa had refused to come indoors but that night made her so frightened; she had wanted her mother, her brother and sister to snuggle with, so she wormed her way in through a little hole in the wall. After spitting out cobwebs and chewing the cupboard door, she had found the sleeping boy in a hay bale bed on the floor. She had pawed at his face to wake him, when he did not wake; she had crawled under the blankets with him, sleeping on his arm. Link had awoken the next morning with a dead arm, but a strong bond with sharing his bed.

Now he could not get her out of it.

He stood up and made a move to leave the place he sat at only to feel the wind brush against his face. Something howled with it, almost in a musical sense. Link turned sharply to see another ice arrow stabbed into the ground, the light from it coloured the grass an eerie blue tinge. He could swear he saw the end of a green sock hat enter through the door to the windmill in the dark, he ran up to it, leaving the arrow in the ground and opened the door wide.

No one.

No one was there, just the gears of the windmill getting back into order to control the water supply again.

Link shuddered and turned to leave; the howling music rang in his ears once more and the wind suddenly blew in his face, pushing him to the ground. Pippa barked at him, putting her paws on his knees in concern. He let out a contented sigh and walked to the steps to the house, picking the arrow up on the way; he opened the door and was pushed over by his sister.

"What do you think you are doing coming in at this hour?! Where have you been?!" Rosie shouted folding her arms; Pippa glanced at Link as if to wince and squeezed through her legs to her bowl. Link hid the arrow behind his back, the hair stood up on his neck with the cold from the tip.

Link tutted and shook his head.

Rosie pointed to the bow and quiver on the kitchen bench "Do you know how worried I was?!"

Link lifted his eyebrows and pushed past her to slip the arrow into the quiver

"Don't ignore me!" Rosie roared slamming the door

"Sarah told you where he was." their mother mumbled pushing the curtain back

"Still! You went to the well to get water for the clothes!" Rosie growled, Link threw his arms into the air and sat down on the rug, playing with a loose tassel. "How can you be so easy on him?!"

Her mother said nothing as Link stuck his tongue out at his sister behind her back, Rosie turned on him, wrapping her arm around his neck. He kept his broken wrist out of her reach as he felt even more weight on his back as Pippa pulled Rosie's hair.

"Stop it, the lot of you!" their mother shouted bashing a fist against the floor, Link widened his eyes and pointed at Rosie

"Don't listen to him, he started it!" Rosie snapped pushing him over

"Well I'm ending it!" their mother grunted leaning back into her pillow "Link, go to bed. Rosie, stay with me for a little while."

They nodded in sync and separated from reaching distance of each other. Link vanished behind a curtain behind the kitchen, being closely followed by his best friend on four legs. Rosie sat by her mother's side, lowering her head as she did so

"Rosie, Auru has allowed you to work at the store with Link when he retires here when you turn sixteen. The store would belong to the pair of you since Link is the only other employee." her mother mumbled, Rosie lifted her head up sharply at the thought

"Mother, you need twenty-four hour care!" Rosie stammered slicing the air with her hand

"I can look after myself." she groaned fiddling with her fingers, Rosie was unconvinced

"Mother, I can't. You're too sick." Rosie answered, pulling her hair.

Link listened to them argue for at least an hour before he dropped to sleep. Pippa stretched out in his arms, cradled within them like a baby; taking the cover off him as the night went on. Link moaned out loud in his sleep, the music he had heard in his head was playing over and over; calling for him.

It was the sound of hissing that awoke Pippa, no, not hissing, laughing, that awoke her. She sniffed her master's face and listened to him whine in his sleep for a moment before spotting a grey light pass by the door, it was a bright one, a bright one like hot-beast. She growled and hopped down from the bed, her nose traveling on the ground for a scent; she could smell the she-two-legged, the one that had barked at Master in the two-legged language and the sick she-two-legged that did not have two-legs, no, that two-legged always lay on hers, her scent could never move far. She crawled under the hanging blanket of Master's den to see the remains of food on the table being inspected by a hot-beast-without-hot.

She was not tall enough to reach the table with her paws…yet.

Instead, she growled at the grey hot-beast-without-hot, it laughed at her and came down to her height, she pounced, snapping her jaws around the hot-beast-without-hot. But like the one she had seen with Master, it just reappeared behind her flying through the hanging blanket towards Master.

Without another thought, she zipped underneath and pounced onto Master's stomach to waken him, just as the hot-beast-without-hot touched his lips, waiting for him to breathe in.

Link woke with a start; he could see Flame hovering in his room and the backside of his best friend. He gave her a shove and sat up, unsure why she was growling

"Your dog is viscous!" Flame shouted, clinging onto a cobweb in the corner of Link's room. Link shook his head and tried to work out what was going on.

He could not.

His head made contact with the pillow again and he turned over, leaving Pippa to chase Flame away.

She crawled back onto Link's bed and lowered her head. It would be back.

She knew it and decided not to sleep till Master woke at dawn.

A few days had past, Link opened the cupboard door and took out the jar of mushroom spores and banged his head on the door for a moment; they only had a day's worth left in the jar. How could he get more with a broken wrist? How could he get more for over a month with a broken wrist?!

He dropped to the floor holding his head and the jar till Pippa put her paws on his feet, barking cheerfully as normal. An idea popped into his head as he stroked her behind the ears; maybe he could use the arrows power without the bow.

As normal, later that morning, Link took the empty bottles they owned and bags and saddled up his mare; Pippa's head sticking out of her little pouch on the saddle as he gripped the reigns with one hand

"Be careful." Rosie spoke, offering him a lunch of an apple and some bread.

Link just sighed in reply.

"I mean it. I still don't know why you take your quiver though you can't use the arrows." Rosie shrugged, Link just shrugged and flicked the reigns, urging his mare to run, run away from her innocent life. As he did so, he pulled his cloak on and brought his hood up, as he did so, he brushed his hair back and placed a strange mask on his face, one that covered his eyes with a beak and dark feathers. The glint of his blue eyes just shone through.

Pippa hated that mask. She wanted to know what it tasted like.

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

I'm sleepy today; work has been none stop. What is Link's plan going to be? I'm such a mean author to break his arm aren't I? Why does Pippa hate Flame? OOH! Plot stuff! Yay!

A little more language for you to get on with I think, Pippa's parts are only going to get more complicated. If you haven't worked out what she's talking about, here you go:

Master - Link  
Two-legged - human  
He/she-two-legged - male/female human  
Two-legged-language - human language  
Chewy-paws - shoes or boots  
Feathered dog - birds  
Paws - feet or hands  
Wet - water or liquid  
Hot-beast - fire  
Hot-beast-without-hot - Flame  
Bedding - bandages or cloth on the floor  
Den - home or room

Till next chapter folks.


	5. A Plan Gone Wrong

**Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART.**

Chapter Five - A Plan Gone Wrong 

Link left his horse in the shady areas of the fast flowing river, trusting her enough to not run off till he called her. Pippa on the other hand followed in his footsteps, eager to offer a paw in effort to bring medicine to his mother. Link furrowed his brow, sweat teaming from inside the mask like tears. How was he to explain the situation to a dog that could not understand Hylian? Link let out a sigh and sat by the banks of the river, Pippa leaned up against his side, sensing his unease behind the mask

He lowered his head and took off the mask, his shoulders bounced as more water dripped down his face, tears this time as his head could not make up any ideas. Pippa sat on his knee and licked the tears from his cheeks, her rough pink tongue soaking up the salt from within them. He smiled and stroked her head behind the ears as her pack stopped him from stroking her back. He would think of something.

Darkness soon came, the shadows covering them in the night. As normal, Link passed through the gates of Castle Town just before sunset, hiding Pippa under his thick cloak, his mask covering his face but his hood was around his shoulders. He waited on the roof of the shop aiming to break the lock on the door and snatch only what he needed, greed never even getting a grain in his heart. Pippa had been let out from his cloak and had gone to steal some food from Auru's store, slipping in and out of a little hole she and Link had dug when Auru was sleeping one day for ease.

But there was a problem. There was a guard standing outside the shop door he had planned to enter from, he was not trying the window, yes he was thin enough for someone to use his ribs for a xylophone but he had nearly broken it last time and glass in wounds was painful to run with. He pulled an arrow out of his quiver and pondered to himself, tapping the roof tiles he sat on as he thought with the tip. As he did, the tiles began to feel harder to grip onto; he gasped and tightened his grip on the arrow; it had coated the tiles in a thin layer of ice, perhaps he could use this to his advantage. Taking a sharp breath he touched the tip of the arrow to his forefinger of his bandaged hand; his finger was frozen in an instant, sending the below zero freeze down his finger to his palm, he shivered and wiggled his finger the best he could to let minuscule cracks down the ice; it smashed with a small puff of blue smoke and the crash sound of breaking ice.

Link let out a hoarse laugh and lay down on the tiles, the arrow escaping from his hands and slid down the roof, he reached for it, trying not to make any sound. The guard looked up; Link braced himself for danger but instead his clenched knuckles around the drainpipe felt cold. He slipped his mask on and leaned over to find the guard frozen solid, staring up at him. Link was not sure if he was seeing him or not but took the opportunity.  
He pushed the guard away from the door, listening to his muffled protests; he picked the lock and broke in through the door. Breaking into a half-empty bottle of golden dust to pour them into his bottle.

Then everything happened at once.

The guard broke through his cocoon of ice and grabbed his good arm, one that was still hanging onto the bottle. Link let out a gasp and turned as the hood of his cloak was torn from his back

"So it's you! We finally caught you!" the guard shouted in his ear, Link grimaced and pushed the man off his arm. The guard tightened his grip and laid his spear on the doorframe to reach for Link's mask. Link began to struggle, forcing his broken wrist out from the protection of his cloak "Stay still!" the guard argued bashing him over the back of his head with his truncheon that hung from his belt.

Unbeknownst to the pair, Pippa was raiding the cupboards by climbing up a chair onto the counter; her feet carefully avoiding anything that might give away a footprint. She nuzzled open a cupboard on the floor from the bench and stood on it, she was no cat, so she was off balance as she crept across it. Grabbing a small pack in her mouth and shaking off the empty one on her back to replace it. After rolling around in the rope for a few moments, the pack was loosely tied around her middle; she was literally carrying half a loaf and a bottle of milk with her.

She kept to the dark as she walked to the place where she would normally meet Master but Master was normally here before her, why was he not here? Two-legged were pouring out of their dens, carrying hot-beasts on sticks towards other dens, shouting in their strange two-legged language; she crouched down in the dark, keeping her paws from theirs. A growl past her teeth, they had Master! She ran forward, charging for the nearest leg but Master spotted her and sliced the air with his paw; she darted back into the dark as he lowered his paw, tapping his flank with a small paw,

_Come close, but keep at a distance._ Was the command, she understood and licked the growl from her teeth. Following closely she watched the he-two-legged fight with Master, but his sore paw had let him down as he could not bring his flying claw that he always brought. She clambered onto some sweet smelling wood outside a large den and put her forepaws on the small den entrance, the one that was never entered and exited by the two-legged kind. She watched for her moment to help Master escape.

Link looked upon a tall man that hid behind the candles on the desk, the guards that had struggled with him had sat him down in a small wooden chair that hurt his back; he knew Pippa was around, armed to the teeth with rage for him, but she obeyed his commands without fault. He could trust her to follow and just hope that she was not captured herself. The room he was in was not unfamiliar to him, it was one that he had been to many times, but only by day, without mask or cloak; it was the guard's office, and the tall man behind the desk was Captain of the Castle Guard, Captain Linebeck, a man that often demanded he deliver food to him at his desk during his working hours. Link glared through the eyeholes in his mask as Capt. Linebeck stood up from his seat, wearing as normal, his blue tailcoat and white buttoned shirt that was tanned brown with sweat and stank from his refusal to bathe. His shoes were covered in mud and climbed like Link's, up to his knees where a pair of dark blue trousers, showing off his aristocratic side, were tucked inside. He tipped his hat to show dark hair, almost black but with strong, thick spikes of brown hair in all directions like bed hair, though considering the time, Link thought that to be acceptable.

"Well, my men finally caught you, ruffian. What do you have to say for yourself?" Capt. Linebeck asked leaning over the desk at his masked face. Not like Link could say a word in his defence, he just folded his arms.

"I caught him in the shop, sir!" the guard that had caught him interrupted, squeezing Link's shoulder till it hurt "He was stealing mushroom spores, sir!"

"Was he now?" Capt. Linebeck mumbled putting a hand to his chin "Well, mushroom spores are used in medicine mostly."

Link turned sharp, so much that the Captain noticed. He smirked.

"So I'm right?" Capt. Linebeck asked grabbing Link's chin "You wanted to use the spores as medicine and this is the second time this week."

"He had this on him, sir!" the guard holding him shouted, Link winced, clearly this man had no inside voice. He bit back his complaints as the guard put his ice arrow on the desk, instantly turning the paper aeroplanes the Captain had made on his desk as sharp as darts "It has the ability to freeze any object, sir!"

Capt. Linebeck picked up the arrow, being careful not to touch its tip. He pointed it at Link's face "What is it, boy?"

Link lowered his shoulders and lifted his good hand up to push the arrow away from his face; he did not much care for the freezing of his fingers

"Still not talking?" Capt. Linebeck muttered watching the boy open and close his hand inside the ice cocoon that held it to smash it "Then let me at least have the pleasure to see your face."

That was it! She watched the tall he-two-legged lean over to Master, paw outstretched to take the feathers from his face. She had had enough of watching and listening to them and jumped in through the window latching onto the he-two-legged's paw, her teeth drawing grey liquid. Master jumped in growling under his breath, though she had not done anything wrong, she let go of his paw and settled into Master's. Waiting. That's what they were doing. She wormed her way into his cloak.

Link scratched his back where Pippa sat; her paws over his shoulder, she was getting too big for this.

Capt. Linebeck grasped his bleeding hand, if Link had not have intervened when he did, the pup would have ripped his thumb off.

"This is your mutt?" the Captain snarled, Link pulled up his hood and stood up "Where do you think you are going?"

Link took a step back and hit the guards behind him. Link clenched his good fist and cradled his broken one. He stared through his mask at the captain; a standoff. Link knew he had failed but they had food at least and maybe hope and an idea would help him steal the medicine tomorrow. But was it worth the risk? He felt Pippa squirm impatiently on his shoulder, her nose kept pointing to the barred window behind them. It was a long shot and he had not perfected his roll yet but what choice did he have? Taking a breath he gave a quick salute to Capt. Linebeck and taking a short run he slipped through the bars on the window and ducked into a roll on the cobblestone, running was all he could think about.

He dived into the moat and let it carry him down while arrows and other hard objects were thrown in by the townspeople, yet fate had other plans and spat him out in the wrong direction.

This night could not get any worse.

He was in Royal's Garden!

Link hid himself in the shadows of the huge stone walls, crossing his legs and letting Pippa sit by them, nuzzling into his chest with a whine. A bead of water pattered onto her nose, one that she blinked at.

The bushes started to rustle suddenly as a body came backwards through them, tripping over his legs with a hushed growl. Link touched his right cheek, his hand being coated in his blood. He would have said 'ow' if it were possible.

"Who are you?! How did you get in here?!" the person snarled twisting a dagger in their hands. Link sat there staring, one hand to his cheek, the other holding Pippa back.

"Answer me!" the person hissed, their voice high and feminine. Link wrinkled his nose; the smell of her flowery perfume was enough for anyone to notice her. Without haste, he lowered his head, bowing in respect. "You worked it out?" the girl mumbled "Are you a Sheikah?"

Link shook his head as the girl sat down next to him. She looked about as sad as him.

"Why don't you speak?" the girl asked glancing at him, bringing her arms over her raised knees. It was too dark to see what she was wearing fully but he could work out that a dark, if not black skirt was covering those legs.

Link tapped his throat, keeping eye contact with her all the time; his sea blue eyes were staring into the girls soul as if searching for answers. The girl put a hand to her mouth and thumped him hard on the back that made him gasp

"I've never heard of someone with mutism!" the girl gasped, her voice getting rather loud. Link shrank further into the shadows as lights began to flicker from inside the walls of the castle. The girl turned silent as the night and crept backwards, grabbing his hand as she did so. "I have a hideout, we-I can talk to you there."

The girl pushed a stone with her free hand, her left hand, to force the wall to turn violently on an unknown hinge, spitting them out inside the dark halls of the castle.  
"Come on, this way!" the girl whispered recovering quickly. Link shot her a questionable glance and stood up, placing Pippa on the floor and tapping his left hip with his full hand. Pippa kept close to his heel as they followed the strange girl, one that moved with much more silence than he did.

"Shh!" the girl hissed slamming a hand into his face to push him into the wall, hiding him behind a flag hanging from a huge hook above them. The flag was a beautiful red with three yellow triangles in the centre; as simple as the design was, Link could not help but admire it for some odd reason. It was something so simple that it could not be thought of in normal society.

The wall they leaned on turned, pushing them into a tunnel with a downward slope that Link rolled down, grunting as his injured wrist took all his weight. He came to a stop at the end of the slope, groaning into the grey brick floor. Pippa stood on his back licking the back of his left ear with concern.

"Don't worry about it, it happened to me when I first found this place." the girl  
sniggered lighting a small candle that was on a desk in the corner of the room. Link raised his head and lowered his shoulders, staring at the girl who had attacked and bewildered him.

She let out a sigh and held out a hand to help him up. He took it with his good hand, forcing yet another standoff between two pairs of eyes.

Link could only marvel at the beauty she carried behind the mask, one that looked makeshift and hurried; hid two stone cold eyes that held warmth in them, a certain softness that he could appreciate. Cascading from behind the mask was a few strands of wine coloured hair; the rest was hidden under the grey bandages, the rest of her body had been hidden in a similar fashion. Her dress was one to light and simple for one of royalty yet suited her perfectly; a grey dress with a rip in the middle to show her legs were covered in bandages and black tights and simple shoes; ankle boots. The chest of her dress had a great red eye in the centre, one that could have won the staring competition with ease; but a blood tear ran down it. This confused him. She carried only a dagger in a scabbard on her hip, everything else was hidden.

The boy was good at holding his gaze, behind a feathery mask she could just see the sad blue eyes watching her through the slits; he was of a good build but carried no weapons except for a quiver on his hip under his cloak one that was hiding his weakness, a broken wrist. But the company he had was strange too; a little chocolate Labrador, no older that five months; possibly even three months, pushing it. They kept to the same code of silence but she could see that glare on the pup's face, she respected and protected the ground he walked on.

The girl cleared her throat "If I remove my mask, will you take off yours?"

Link jumped back a few places and brought a hand up, stroking the feathers with his fingers. The girl let out a shallow sigh and unraveled the bandages from around her face to show a pale face with soft pink lips and a pointed nose, her hair fell down past her shoulders, still tied up in its bobble. Link twisted his face and cupped his hands to his chest

The girl did not get the message at first and then she clicked "I won't tell anyone!"

Link's hands shook as he removed his protection from his face, drawing back his hood as he did so. The girl let out a gasp and began to circle him like a vulture; he swallowed hard and turned to face her. The girl put a hand to her chin and wore a smirk that scared him, one that even made Pippa tuck her tail between her legs. He raised an eyebrow and threw his arms out

"Oh, nothing." the girl giggled taking his good hand and shook it once "My name is Princess Zelda."

Link fell backwards, narrowly falling on Pippa,

Zelda giggled "Shocked?"

Link nodded and lowered his head,

Zelda let another giggle escape. "So what is your name?"

Link opened his mouth but shut it again. Zelda showed the same forlorn look. "We are going to have a few problems here."

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

I am SO sorry, guys. I honestly didn't know that it had not uploaded the chapter, I've tired like three times just now.

I don't know what would be going through my mind in this situation; I think I would have wet myself sitting in the police office and done worse with Monarchs. However, the Princess has better things to do that rat out a kind thief. This Zelda seems bold, doesn't she? Taking in a stranger without as much as a 'hello'.

A little more language for you to get on with I think, Pippa's parts are only going to get more complicated. If you haven't worked out what she's talking about, here you go: Also, bear in mind, that as far as I'm aware, Pippa can't see colours, only blacks, whites and greys.

Master - Link  
Two-legged - human  
He/she-two-legged - male/female human  
Two-legged-language - human language  
Chewy-paws - shoes or boots  
Feathered dog - birds  
Paws - feet or hands  
Small paw - fingers or toes  
Wet - water or liquid  
Hot-beast - fire  
Hot-beast-without-hot - Flame  
Bedding - bandages or cloth on the floor  
Den - home or room  
Flying claw - bows and arrows  
Small den entrance - window  
Sweet smelling wood - boxes of food


	6. Zelda

**Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART.**

Chapter Six - Zelda

Zelda paced back and forth for a while; so much so that Link and Pippa just sat there watching, trying not to get dizzy. Pippa let out a sigh and lay her head on Link's lap, not letting Zelda anywhere near him after she had sliced his cheek. She eventually stopped pacing and sat down, looking into his eyes before offering him a vial of red potion.

"So, have you been mute since you were born?" she asked dabbing the wound with a bandage from her disguise. Link winced but nodded in reply. Zelda kept her eyes on Pippa, though the pup had not even growled a warning, she could tell she was either very protective or overly jealous, perhaps both. Link let out a quiet gasp as her fingers stung and slapped a hand into dust covering the walls; his hand print was left there.

They glanced at each other thoughtfully. Then smiled.

"So what is your name?" Zelda questioned, Link's left hand went up to the wall first but then he lowered it and looked unsurely at his right hand.

"You're left handed, huh?" Zelda smirked giving him a light punch on the shoulder; he nodded and wrote on the wall with a finger, said finger being covered in grime and dust that caked the walls.

_Link_

"It's a bit of an unusual name, isn't it?" she giggled, but he frowned "Take a joke, Link."

_How old are you?_

Zelda smiled "I'm fifteen, you?"

Link nodded and pointed a finger at her. Zelda nodded back to him

_This is Pippa. She's about 3 months old._

Zelda reached forward to stroke the pup but she backed off with a low growl, Link tutted at her.

Zelda watched with admiration as the silent bond between man and canine was stronger than granite, though Master was always to be obeyed. She could not help but feel some sort of protection with the silent boy, just as Pippa did; but she was the one who secretly protected him from both the things that a person could see and the things he could not. Bad intentions being one of them. Though she did not mean any harm to them, Zelda knew that the pup would not hesitate to bite if she struck him again; it was Link who had stopped her the first time.

They communicated for some time, Zelda's questioning was starting to get on Link's nerves; he had never met anyone this chatty and his fingers were getting itchy with the dust, he wondered when the girl would tire. Pippa started to whimper beside him, she was bored and even though Link had taken the food from her back, she was tired. Zelda spotted this too.

"It will be light soon. I'll help you get you into town. After that, you are on your own." Zelda spoke, her voice turning serious. Link stood up but looked at his feet. "What's wrong?"

Zelda studied every depressive line in his face as he put his mask back on and tightened his quiver around his hip. Link had trusted her enough to tell her the full story, why he was captured by the captain, why he carried arrows but no bow, to why he had to steal to feed his family. Zelda knew it was no sob story and tilted Link's head up to face her.  
"You can't bear to think what would happen to your family if you weren't there. You don't want to lose anyone. I will give you some spores, wait here."

Zelda was gone before he had time to even gasp in surprise. Pippa looked at him as if to shrug. Zelda returned with two unscratched bottles of the golden spores that Link needed in a small bag and attached it to his back, hooking his arms through the straps. "There is two weeks' worth in that bag. I will give you more when you need it." Zelda whispered pulling the hood of his cape up and closing his gaping mouth. Without warning, Link wrapped his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly to his chest, much to the annoyance of Pippa. Zelda put her arms on his shoulders and sat her head on his chest, hearing his warm, happy heartbeat. Something that she had never really heard. Link gave her a questioning glance, one that even she could read clearly as it was coming from Pippa too.

"You hug pretty tightly." Zelda giggled when Link let go "But it's nice, most people just shake my hand or bow repeatedly."

Link looked in Pippa's direction, hearing her claws scrape against the stone they had come through.

"Right, this way!" Zelda hissed taking his good hand and pulling him out of the candle light to a small tunnel that was filled with water; Link whistled for Pippa and leaned down as she jumped into his arms. To be honest, he was sick of getting wet now.

Zelda went first, gripping onto the bricks above the slide, just do her head was showing. She covered her face with some bandages and disappeared from his sight down the tunnel.  
Link lay on his back and with some difficulty, settled Pippa lying down on his chest, her head facing him, she wanted the night to just end too. He could tell. He let go and slid down after her the twisting tunnels of the water slide brought them out beyond even the catacombs of the castle, deep underground to the rat filled sewers below, the water current dragged him and Pippa downstream, thumping them against brick floors and walls without much control. But then the current evened out, the water slowed down as an ice arrow from the quiver scrapped across the surface, extending a trail of ice across the sewer water and colouring it a soft white with little patches of yellow dotted around it, it would be a winter wonderland if a few snowflakes would fall. Skidding with a bit more control by digging the small blades in his shoes downward, Link came to a sudden halt by a thick stone wall with thick bars that clanged when he hit them. Zelda was waiting for him at the side, drying her hair by squeezing it.

"You are just full of surprises aren't you?" she giggled offering a hand to him but gasped when she saw the blue glow in his quiver, he held it out to show her. "This is an ice arrow. It's filled with magic, the stone proves it. Where did you get this?"

Link shrugged, not wanting to disclose that information just now. But then a thought stuck him, he had left his arrow with the captain, how did he have another?

"A man Mother used to know had arrows like that." Zelda shrugged lifting her arms up as Pippa shook herself, lolling her tongue over her lips as she did so. She handed the arrow back to Link who stuffed it in his quiver. "I didn't know it was that powerful, I thought it only worked when you shot it."

Link shrugged.

Zelda glanced up at a grate above them, the morning sunrays had not shone down it yet, but the sky was not dark anymore; no, it was a yellowy red. Something that Link would normally be seeing outside the walls. She stood on his shoulders to push the grate up, groaning with effort as the grate was rusted tight. Something tapped her leg. She glanced down to see him holding up a red feather arrow in his good hand, otherwise, he was perfectly balanced, his eyes shut and his body still as stone no matter how long she stood. She took the arrow and scraped off the orange metal that kept the grate stuck solid to the bricks; they came off in flakes like confetti.

"Take my hand." she whispered clambering through the space and offering her outstretched arm out to him. She should have guessed, the pup came first. Link had debated about throwing his friend up, but she was too big for Zelda to hold onto with him too. She was growing every day.

After a decent struggle, the pair sat on the cobblestone. Both in silence; Link had taken his mask off and hidden it safely in his quiver, along with the packs of food Pippa had stolen. He smiled at her, a smile that would mean thank you beyond number's reach and held out his hand to shake. Zelda smirked and shook it.

"Tonight was nice." Zelda whispered standing up after hearing the drawbridge chains rattle nearby "I'll see you next time you need spores."

Link turned his head sharply, reminding her silently that he was not a charity case. Zelda said nothing and jumped down into the sewers.

"Be safe, Link. See you in two weeks right here." her call came, Link dashed off with Pippa at his listened to him go and leaned against the wall. Still holding his arrow. She raised her head to shout but knew he would be long gone now. She brought it up to her chest and hugged it.

She had a friend.

"Milady, it is time to rise." a voice shouted, Zelda closed the window she had crawled though. That was getting closer and closer every time. The sun was peeking through the arch shaped windows that were frosted with design, being blazed by the sun was a giant bed that was covered in pink pillows and purple sheets, the floor was covered in rugs, ones that were slipping under the wooden draws that housed bottles of perfume and were decorated with lace. A wardrobe stood in the corner, one of its doors open to who desired it, showing dresses that practically ate all the space around them.  
A round woman came through the door dressed in a light brown dress and white apron with a slight frill on the ends. She had a bright red face and puffy cheeks like a chipmunk; her mousy brown hair was cut short and tied up behind a brown sheet, yet as normal, a small tuft could be seen from underneath, it would bounce when she ran.

"Good morning, Leanne." Zelda yawned hiding the arrow behind her back

"How is Milady this morning?" Leanne asked shutting the wooden door behind her, panting slightly from climbing the stairs.

"I'm most good." Zelda whispered nodding her head

"Milady, what have you there?" Leanne asked watching Zelda eye the gap between the curtains of her bed. Zelda glanced up suddenly and leaned against the wall, housing Link's arrow between her and it.

"Nothing." Zelda remarked holding her hands out, still covered in bandages.

Leanne folded her arms "Her Majesty doesn't instruct me to watch you for naught, Milady."

"This is all for naught." Zelda grumbled feeling the sharp tip of the arrow graze her skin "I was just looking out the window."

"Milady, with respect, I can see the feathers. That isn't a guard's arrow. I'm married to one." Leanne chuckled "Come on, now."

Zelda lowered her head and moved away to let the arrow fall, almost with an echoing clatter on the stone floor, Leanne made a move to pick it up but Zelda grabbed it first, hugging it to her chest

"I know who it belongs too and I will return it myself, I tried but I missed them." Zelda coughed, Leanne sighed and rubbed her temples with her fingers

"Milady; that is a handcrafted arrow from outside these walls. The feathers on the end are those of a myth. I'm surprised you found them." Leanne smirked; Zelda looked curiously at the arrow "A little food for thought."

"Do you refer to the Myth of the Great Birds?" Zelda asked touching the tip of the arrow to her cheek

"Clever girl, but those feathers are fake, mocking the Great Firebird, if they were real; the arrow would be on fire." Leanne spoke lifting a finger; she saw Zelda's face change.

"Excuse me." Zelda whispered dashing out of the room and running down the stairs.

Zelda charged down the red-carpeted halls, very un-princess-like and crashed into a door that was locked tight. She looked at the arrow and without hesitation, stabbed the arrow into the key hole and twisted it. The door opened slowly with a creak.

Inside the room was a library, one that was piled with books, even ones disappearing from her sight into the line of dust that glided across the room, she could swear clouds came in sometimes through the open windows. The books themselves held many stories and legends; some were even old diaries and history books, with some atlases of the known world still being completed by adventurers and teachers. One adventurer that had spent some time here was a man clothed in green; he would sit in the same spot by the window drawing elaborate and complicated maps of both the gentlest towns and the harshest terrains like the Gerudo Desert. Sometimes the man would come and add detail to the maps, signing them in the corners with a date and a little message. The last time she had seen him though was when she was still toddling.

She pulled out an atlas from the shelves with a tug; the man had wedged it in good and tight so when she opened it, it spat dust in her face. But after flicking through the pages, she found his last map, but there was something odd about it. It was a map of the full world on a sphere, but that was strange, the world was flat, Teacher had said so. Yet it made so much sense as no one had ever fallen off the edge of a map.

He had signed it as normal but there were two pointed mountains and one deep trench of this map, no labelled marks like the others. It was his only incomplete map. She recognised one huge mountain belonging to the proud rock people, and the gorge being covered in the deepest water of the fish people, but the third she had never seen before. Where was that? It led off from the woods somewhere, home to the ageless children.  
Without another thought she clambered up some shelves nearby and pulled a smaller, yet thicker book that nearly pulled her down from the shelves.

The title: _Anatomy of Arrows._

She threw it on the floor and shimmied along the shelf, her hands acting like dusters as she crossed, till she halted at another book, almost a leaflet in width but the writing was so tiny and wrote in a way that none could read, the only thing that told her she was correct was the fact it had birds on it. Zelda squinted at the writing, recognising the hand to be the same in the maps. She shrugged and jumped down to compare the writing with the one in the maps just to be sure, though the map artist's hand had gradually gotten better over time, she knew it was unmistakeably his; he wrote in _italics._ Showing he was left handed.

She heard footsteps outside and slammed all the books shut so they coughed more dust and saw on the side of the book when all the pages were together was a picture of three feathers, similar to that of the arrow she had. But also three letters or more initials underneath.

_B.O.M._

What did that mean?

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Well that went well. Link has a friend that could rid him of both his guilt and his criminal record, but it also seems that Link's arrows are a little more special than thought, huh? But the plot finally thickens! Actually, come to think of it, who drew those maps...?


	7. Chapter Seven - Harsh Words, Harsh Truth

**Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART.**

Chapter Seven - Harsh Words, Harsh Truths

Link threw the blankets over his face, leaving Pippa sitting rather confused at the side. He just wanted to forget about today, forget about meeting the monarch, forget about the spores; forget about illness, just everyone to leave him alone. Not only had he stolen from the shop and been caught, he had bumped into the princess. Oh, good grief!

But then again…not many could say they had met the princess without invitation and 'spoken' to her without guards or the snobbish tone from the nobles. Perhaps he would see her again.

Link smiled and lifted his head out from under the blankets; Pippa licked his cut on his cheek and wagged her tail playfully. He could not forget her assistance last night. He would not have met his new friend if it were not for her. Pippa nuzzled into his neck, rubbing her flank against his shoulder before lying next to him, Link wrapped his arm around her and stroked her head behind the ears till he felt her tail thump against his hip as she stretched out. She yawned, and lay her head between her paws, but remained awake.

He snuggled down in the blankets and lay against the pillows; Pippa shut her sleepy eyes as did he. And both fell into a sound sleep, one that could not be stirred.

It was nightfall before they awoke; Rosie was shaking his shoulders. Her long hair tied up in a bun for bed

"Link, get up!" she wailed gripping his shoulders till her nails dug into his skin, Link groaned and rubbed his eyes, looking at her under his crusty, sleep covered eyelids. "They took Mother outside, she'll infect the town!"

Link's eyes shot open straight away and he threw his blanket off onto Pippa who had not quite woken up yet as the children rushed outside, the town was gathering up by the well to a man on a black horse with deep brown eyes. Link let out a snarl and shut the door behind Rosie.

Trouble. With a capital 'C'

Captain Linebeck was sitting on a finely crafted leather saddle, with matching red reins that the horse chewed on. The town were crowded around him, murmurs of confusion and irritation were hanging in the air, Link slowed down and looked at his clothes and pulled off his shirt, turning it inside out and slipping it around his stomach, kicked off his shoes and threw his mask into an open window, he did not dare be spotted with it. The captain knew him as a silent shop hand, no more.

Rosie was fuming. Absolutely _shaking_ with rage; her fists were glued to her sides but Link could see at any moment she was going to go for the captain, pushing him off his horse if necessary. He put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently, telling her to stay put.

Capt. Linebeck blew a whistle to order for silence, the angry citizens glared at him. "The mysterious illness has struck here, the demand for mushroom spores has never been higher, for it has reached all sides of this world." he began, lifting his arms up "We have been asked to locate the one who has been stealing the spores for years and we have evidence that brings him to one of your people."

Outrage rang in the crowd, some of the men shook their fists, punching the air like it were an enemy. Rosie glanced at Link, he had gone stiff, but his face remained stern, did he know something about the thief and would not or could not tell for one reason or another?

"We will be searching homes for clues then you may return to your lives. Co-operate and no one shall be harmed!" Capt. Linebeck muttered flapping his hands to order his yes-men to search the houses and buildings. Link and Rosie tore through the ground to where their sick mother lay. She looked worse than before now that she had been moved, she could barely talk.

"Go back to your house." a man in a tin hat ordered shooing them away

Rosie snapped "This is my mother, look at her, she's very sick!"

"It-It's alright…R-Rosie, head back home with…your b-brother." her mother whispered clutching her hands. Rosie did not move. Link stood back as Rosie punched the man in the face, leaving him a bruised nose.

"What's going on here?!" Capt. Linebeck snarled grabbing Rosie's bun in his hand and pulled her up so she let out a squeal

"You-ah! You're a monster!" Rosie screamed as he lifted her off the ground with her hair alone "Look what you-ah! did to my mother!"

Link intervened; bringing her down to the ground, giving the captain a cat-eye glare as he did so.

"Sir, we found this!" a man with a torch grunted holding up Link's hawk-mask. Link made an audible gulp. Rosie opened her mouth but he squeezed her shoulder to warn her from her remark. That was Link's mask. Did he have something to do with this?

"Where?" Capt. Linebeck asked trotting his horse towards the man with the torch. Link's mouth turned dry as Sarah's family was shooed into their house. He felt a pang of guilt "Are they harbouring the fugitive?"

"No, Sir!" the man with the torch spoke, saluting as he did so. "The men of the house do not fit his credentials and there were no secret rooms found, Sir!"

A cruel smile crossed Capt. Linebeck's face "Burn it, these people are to be made examples of."

Link made a move to act, but Rosie held her arm out. He recovered his stern face with a gulp.

Capt. Linebeck jumped down from his horse and snatched the torch from the man's hand, raising it high to the soaked straw and wood that had been thrown in haste; a few shirts and aprons had been taken from the people and thrown on for good measure; the door had been sealed shut. He lowered the torch to the straw, setting it alight within seconds.

Link heard Sarah scream from inside along with the rest of her family as black smoke erupted from the windows. Link threw his sister's arm back and dived through a smoke filled window, keeping himself low to avoid the ashes and smoke entering his lungs.  
He put a hand on Sarah's shoulder

"Link!" she wailed hugging him, he took her hand and with a cough pushed her out of the window so that she rolled onto the grass. His soundless throat tickled with the smoke as he pushed Sarah's mother out of the same window before turning to her father. The men worked together to push a beam down on the window to smash it down to let them escape.

But as Link jumped out, his left trouser leg on fire; his bad arm was seized by a guard. Capt. Linebeck had a smug grin on his face. Link made fists. It had been a trap.

"I knew a kind soul like you would not hesitate to save your friends. And you are the only family here that is in need for the spores." Capt. Linebeck chuckled rubbing a bandage on his arm where Pippa had sunk her teeth into. "But, let's see for sure, put the mask on him."

Link began to struggle as the man with the tin hat marched over and placed the hawk mask on his face. Capt. Linebeck turned his horse around.

"We have him gentlemen. Let's bring him to justice." Capt. Linebeck muttered, Link wrapped his hand around his neck. The chopping block.

"You will not touch my son!" a female voice shouted from a house, an elderly woman stood up at the door, leaning on the post "He was only doing right by his family!"

"He still broke the law." Capt. Linebeck snarled spotting the feeble woman. She was keeping Pippa hidden behind her back, no matter how much she whined and howled for her master.

"I won't have you taking my son away, he's only fifteen!" his mother growled, reaching such a volume that the guards shook in their boots. The captain merely scoffed and led Link away; much to the complaint of the townspeople. Some even making a grab for the guards that led him away, yet, Capt. Linebeck made no move to stop them trying to grab their silent neighbour; knowing he had won.

"Mother, don't worry. I'm sure there's been some sort of mistake." Rosie grumbled as her mother wrote on a piece of paper, the clouds were thundering overhead. Still, she had seen that look when the mask had been found, it could not be true. Thank goodness they had not found hers.

"There is no mistake." her mother groaned, her eyes squeezing shut in pain from standing up

"What?! You knew?!" Rosie shouted throwing her arms down, nearly karate chopping Pippa who lay next to her, pining for Link.

"Go have a look in Link's pocket money pot. How much is in there?" her mother asked, pointing a shaking hand to a little pot in the corner of the kitchen, one that was dusty red with a white chalky line going across the top for design.

Rosie looked in, only to hear Pippa snarl at her for glancing in. "There's twenty rupees in there."

"Right, how much does Link earn a week?"

"Um, 200 rupees?"

"Yes, now who pays for the house?"

"Link."

"Exactly. Once the tax man has been at him; that leaves 150 rupees for the house. Now let's talk about food, shall we?"

"Mother-"

"No. You will listen. Milk costs around 100 rupees a bottle, bread, twenty rupees for half a loaf, spores; 100 rupees a bottle. That equals to 220 rupees."

"Mother, please-"

"No, listen! Link can either pay for the house or can get us food with his wage. He can't do both and there is no money left for clothes, house repairs or even a luxury. Link is forced to steal for us. It is either be homeless, sick or starved."

Rosie lowered her head and sighed as her mother rolled up the paper she made and ripped a little of the curtain that shielded her from outside. She patted her left hip for Pippa to come over and tied both the paper and the curtain piece around Pippa's neck like a collar.

Pippa scratched it with a paw, the rag was itchy on her fur and the crinkly-rag that was damp was slipped inside; she wined as it would not come loose. The sick-she-two-legged patted her on the head softly to tell her to stop, the she-two-legged and Master were very similar to each other, giving her the same straight commands instead of confusing ones. The sick-she-two-legged tickled her belly for a moment before lifting a finger to her face, she put a paw on her chest rubbing the rags she wore on her furless body. She wished she could take her fur off.

_Find Master._ was the command.

Pippa raced outside through the little hole in the den and brought her nose to the grass, picking up the scent of the hoofed kind the bad-he-two-legged had rode away on. She could smell him. She followed the scent, keeping her nose to the ground; she unknowingly left the little town behind.

Zelda ate her meal in silence, listening to the bowls clatter under spoons of the royals around her. How she loathed the awkwardness of a silent meal time, but could never find the words to address her parents or indeed the young man next to her. Prince Cole. The prince was a young man of nineteen, one that would drink Zora coffee in a china teacup with his little finger sticking out or eat Deku seed cake with a knife and fork. He was meant to be a snob, always seeming looking down on people but never did, he never badmouthed them, in fact, behind the cape and fancy shoes was a kind young man who would hold a door open for a lady. Cole had light brown hair that was very close to orange in colour and a small green top hat with a yellow buckle, he was short for nineteen but was a keen fencer and always had his glasses in a pocket in his red jacket or green trousers for he was one that would be covered in dust from the library every day from reading old articles. She was certain he could read minds sometimes, or maybe, just was good at reading faces.

"The soup is quite tasteful." he mumbled placing wiping his mouth on a napkin

"Worth the vegetables that went into it." Zelda spoke not looking up from her bowl

"Warms the heart on a cold morning." Cole mumbled as a servant placed a newspaper on the table next to him from a silver tray. Cole's right hand man was a tall noble, an aristocrat who would often ride with him through the fields on horseback. A thrill only for a prince. "Thank you, Carstairs."

"You're welcome, sir." the noble spoke leaving the room. Cole opened the newspaper to the headlines and shot Zelda a concerned glance, angling the paper for her to see.

**_SPORE THIEF BROUGHT TO JUSTICE!_** shouted the page, showing a grimy pictograph of Link next to the weapon that had ended many lives to early. The axe and the chopping block. Zelda's face went very pale and her throat went dry.

"He's the boy you told me about, right?" Cole whispered skimming through the article. Zelda nodded

"They're going to take his head at sunset. You better do something, soon."

"I doomed my friend." Zelda whimpered getting a glance from the blond haired woman at the end of the table

"Don't wish for it!" Cole hissed, Zelda gripped the arms of the chair

"I'm going to need your help to get him out." Zelda whispered, Cole nodded.

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Captain Linebeck! How could you?! Link's mother has a point doesn't she, she understands the situation that Link is put in with having to pay for everything, it is Rosie who forgets. A little role reversal there, Zelda going to save Link, that's new! And introducing Cole, Zelda's older brother.


	8. Purple

**Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART.**

Chapter Eight - Purple

The cell was dusty and dark with a window that looked out to the feet of people; some threw tomatoes and other rotten food at his face, while some kicked the bars with their boots. Men spat at the ground, letting the drool flow down the sill so Link sat away from the walls, he also learned to stay away from the doors too. He could just see Captain Linebeck enjoying the fresh taste of white wine, the bottle was almost empty and he could see him staring at him. Before Link did not even think of dodging the bottle when it flew through the bars of his cell and crashed into his good arm, crossing it with cuts. Link turned his back on him and crossed his legs. He was not giving the captain any kind of  
acknowledgment.

"Don't-Don't ignore-hiccup-me!" Capt. Linebeck shouted banging a fist against his desk; Link covered his bleeding arm with his bad hand and looked out to the feet that passed his window, but something looked back at him, tongue lolling over their teeth. Link held his arms out and braced himself for doggy kisses; her tail thumping against his arms till it was almost a blur. His fingers touched the paper that was stuffed in a makeshift collar and opened it, much to the snort of relief from Pippa.

_Link,  
You mustn't give up. I know your heart is good and you only risked your life for us. Whatever you do, take care of yourself; don't come back to Kakariko unless you have to, not even for bringing us food or spores. Please save yourself. Pippa will always be there for you.  
With love and sorrow,  
Mother. _

Link put the paper up to his chest and hugged it, did Mother know what the chopping block meant? He was not going to come back from this. If he had a choice, he would try to escape, but he had no way, the bars were locked tight and one arm was out of order. He did not have his quiver, all he had was…

Link smiled and sat Pippa down on the floor, he tapped his right hip with three fingers rubbed the right of his chest with a fist. Pippa growled, but he sliced the air with his hand to stop her.

_Find a close friend._ was the command. He knew Pippa was not keen on who he was sending her to but she would do it for him. Hopefully. She could get really jealous.  
With a groan he lifted her up to the window and pushed her through the bars much to her snarling, but thankfully she ran off in the direction of the castle. Even if she did not get to Zelda, she would be safe at least.

Zelda paced in the gardens, she was worried, Cole had been gone for a couple of hours and the sun was already high in the sky. They were running out of time, she hoped that complimentary bottle of wine had dulled Capt. Linebeck's senses enough so Link could get out, but Cole had ran off with another plan. She sat down on a stone bench by the walls leaning back against the stone with a sigh. The soil shifted underneath the bench, followed by the quick panting breath of a puppy.

"Pippa!" Zelda shouted looking under the bench to see the frown she was greeted with a few nights ago. "Where's Link?"

Pippa cocked her head to the side for a moment, what was this she-two-legged on about? She could not understand their language. Master had told her to go seek a close friend and this one was the closest by smell. She knew the way through the fast-wet but digging was easier when you do not have Master leading you. She plonked her backside down on the grass and whined, lifting her ears up to show concern.

"What's wrong?" Zelda asked as Cole came into view

"Zelda, I got everything worked out." Cole spoke pulling out two autumn orange robes out of a pouch on his hip.

"Explain?" Zelda asked folding her arms and twisting her face, Pippa made a similar facial expression by lowering an ear and tilting her head

"Link can wear the mask of a Training Sage. It is against the law to remove it without permission, if he keeps his head low, he won't get caught, I'll dress up in the other robe and lead him out." Cole squealed "Then, he can hide in the Temple of Time with the other Training Sages till the heat dies down."

"Nice plan, but how do we get two people in and three out?" Zelda asked, Pippa tugged at her dress, urgently whining in her direction.

"This must be his pup you were talking about. She's getting worried for him." Cole said lowering down to her height and offering her a piece of white meat that changed her whole demeanour. He stroked her behind the ears as she swallowed the meat, licking her lips as she finished it off. "You want to come?"

"Of course, he knows me!" Zelda shouted, so loud that every guard in the area glanced in her direction "He may not trust you if you walked in."

"Why not we dress a plank of wood in the robe?" Cole suggested with a shrug

"It'll look a bit thin. Why not a sparing dummy? It's got a bit more of a human figure."  
Zelda contradicted pointing to a broken dummy in the corner; the straw of its insides was being blown in the breeze. The pair nodded and dashed off to the dummy, dressing it up in the robe and pulling the hood up. Cole dressed up in the other

"Wait. How do we get it to move?" Cole mumbled, his voice muffled by the mask he wore under the hood. Zelda put a hand on her chin. The dummy suddenly moved a few inches. Cole and Zelda let out a frightened gasp till they saw a tail sticking out from underneath the cloth of the robe. Somehow, Pippa was pushing the sticks the dummy stood on with her shoulders, though her progress was slow and a bit unsteady, the dummy was seemingly moving on its own.

"Well that answers that question." Zelda mumbled as the dummy fell over on its front. "But makes a few more."

Link winced as he picked the glass out of his arm, the tiny, almost microscopic shards were stuck in the wounds, he glanced out of the window, the sun was starting to meet the horizon and a crowd was gathering in the plaza, waiting his head to fall into the wicker basket at the bottom. In truth, he was terrified but did not want to give the captain the joy of seeing him shake in his boots, though his stomach was doing flips and the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end, he would not show fear. He would be brave when facing death. Perhaps by some lucky strike, someone would save him.

"We are here to give the thief his last rights." a male voice came from around the corner "My friend has given to a vow of silence. He will not speak to anyone."

Link rolled his eyes; people did not know the meaning of silence till they had lived his life for a few days. It could be tough getting a conversation started.  
Three bodies entered the cell he sat in. One knelt down and removed his hood, Link flinched at the sight of the white mask that covered his face; his hair was hidden from him but he could just see a few orange curls at the ears; a pair of blue eyes stared at him, part of the eyes themselves were covered by a large, dinner plate sized golden disk which was meant to be the iris of the mask as it was a great eye, complete with markings for an eyebrow. Apart from a chunk taken away for a mouth hole, the rest was fully solid.

"We don't have much time." Zelda whined from behind the kneeling man, Link smiled at her and nodded in appreciation for coming; though she was not dressed up in the same clothes as the other person.

"Link, is it? My name's Cole, I'm here to help. Just follow me and keep your head down at all times." Cole spoke in a harsh whisper as the second robe covered body turned out to be a few pieces of battered wood and a tired puppy. Link was quick to take the disguise, slipping a spare mask over his face; Zelda pulled the hood up and rearranged his hair to the point where he had to pull away.

He gave her a confused look, which Zelda flinched at. No, no, that was a trick with the light, it had to be. His eyes-

"Zelda!" Cole hissed picking Pippa up and pushing her through the window. Link lifted both hands up, tapping his shoulders with the backs of them

_Stay._ was the command.

Pippa sat down on the cobbles as a sign as she would wait.

"Come on." Zelda whispered hiding the dummy in the corner with Link's shirt on. Link sneezed and cuddled his shoulders under the robe.

They passed through entrance of the office without a problem, but Zelda knew Link was very uneasy, she did not know why, but there was something really off about his personality, though he wore the smile and carried his nerves with him. He suddenly stopped walking. So suddenly that she bumped into him. He froze, staring forward down the street. His head jerked upwards then fell forward with a quiet scream and his breathing became loud. He brought his hands up to his head, covering his ears with a moan that brought him to his knees like he had been kicked in the back.

"What's wrong?" Cole asked bending down to him, he put a hand on Link's shoulder only for it to be covered in vomit a moment later. Cole grimaced.

Link could hear voices. A magnitude of voices, all shouting and chatting, not to him, not to anyone, but they were so loud!

_I like her shirt, I wonder if she got it at the bazaar._ one voice muttered,

_I'm making a profit by selling junk!_ another laughed,

_Money! Yes!_ another shouted,

Link whined again as all the voices merged with each other, becoming a wave of sound, impossible to work out a singular voice. He retched again, pulling the mask off his face.

The voices…they stopped.

All he could hear was the chatting of the crowd in the plaza or at the stalls, relatively quietly. He laid his head on the cobblestones as Pippa came around the corner with a few feathers in her coat. She had gone for a Cucco on the sly; he gasped and retched again, hugging his stomach.

"Link?" Zelda mumbled kneeling down to him, her face blocking out the light from the setting sun.

He saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing. He just groaned.

She waved a hand in front of his face but did not even get a blink. He was breathing, but it was really shallow, seconds passing between his breaths. He slowly shut his eyes, blocking his stare from the world.

"I can carry him." Cole mumbled lifting the boy up, letting his head fall into his shoulder. "Wow, he's really light."

"He doesn't get much food." Zelda sighed as they passed through the plaza, chased by the eyes of the concerned folk, Pippa meanwhile lapped up the vomit until Zelda called her over.

Zelda heaved the doors open of the Temple of Time, a great grey building that not only served as a place to house a powerful sword, but a home for the Sages and Training Sages, much of the grounds behind the temple had been covered in little brick buildings, serving as accommodation for them and though winter was coming, the grounds were full of flowers and many orange robes were working hard to bring the harvest of vegetables in before the snow.

A large man kneeling down before three floating jewels turned to face them, his face hidden by the mask; even under said mask, he wore a bright smile and kind eyes, though he looked like he had been stuffed into that robe for it was a little too short, his yellowish feet stuck out from under the robe along with a pair of crusty knees that looked like they could be broken off; with every step he took towards them, the ground shuddered.

"Brother!" came a hearty voice from within the robe and mask

"We brought him but something happened." Cole said handing Link's body over, the man carried him in one hand like he was a baby.

"Wow, he's light! Does he eat?" the man chuckled removing his mask and lowing the hood of his robe as Zelda pushed the doors closed. The man was not a man, but a walking yellow rock with purple eyes that refused to blink in the presence of another. His yellowish hair or what you could call hair was sticking out in three solid bunches on his otherwise bald head and in a similar fashion on his chin almost reaching touching Link's nose in his arms.

"Of course he eats, Darunia!" she panted sliding down the door

"I was just teasing, Sister." Derunia chortled, brushing Link's hair out of his face with a single finger "Yes, the boy is in dire need of assistance, you can see it."

"You'll keep him here till the heat dies down?" Zelda begged rushing up to him, grabbing his robe in her hands.

"That is not for me to decide, Sister." Derunia sighed as another person came into view, a woman wearing a dark robe. She had piercing red eyes and hair that was somewhere between blue and white. Her face was patterned with white streaks of paint under her eyes and her lips were red as the rose. Through the robe, was a pendant, one that bounced against her chest when she moved, the symbol within the pendant, was a crying eye. Zelda jumped back a few paces, the symbol of the Sheikah.

"Bring him into the back." she muttered with a frosty tone, shifting out of the way slightly to show a small room behind her, one with nothing but a bed inside. Derunia waddled towards her and placed Link on the sheets.

The woman stared at Zelda, watching her with almost a smile, but the corners of her mouth did not twitch into one so welcome on her lips. She remained skeptical for some reason in her gaze, though Zelda could not find a reason to be. She felt a pang of worry in her heart. There was something in her gaze that showed irritation but the hint of loss was there too, almost like she knew him from somewhere.

Zelda traced her mind back to the cell. Link's eyes had looked…different under that mask…they looked…purple. Though it could have been a trick of the light.

She hoped it was.

**0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Dun dun DUN! Link's getting involved with the sages! Now why would they hide a fugitive? and more importantly why did Impa give them such a frosty stare? Does she know something we don't? OOH! PLOT STUFF! Awesome. Now those who have read other works of mine, will know that I have a habit of mentioning eye colour; making it an important thing. TAKE NOTES! Ha-ha!


	9. The Half-Shadow

**Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART.**

Chapter Nine - The Half-Shadow

Soft pillows met the back of Link's head as he awoke from his snooze; his head felt like it had been hit with a piece of wood to put it lightly; his head felt like it had been hit with a plank of wood to put it lightly. Everything was sore. He rolled off the bed and dropped on the stone floor from a height. Well, that was new. He was so used to rolling out of bed onto the floor instead he had just made his headache about three times worse with thinking he was in his own bed; come to think of it, what happened yesterday? All he could recall was leaving the cell and the voices, so many! Next thing, he's in a bed, a proper bed in a brick building.

Link sat up, still wrapped up in the blanket from his fall wrapped up in a clean grass green shirt and the small orange robe from yesterday; though his shoes were gone, his feet did not feel cold, he normally fell asleep in his shoes because of draft but saying that, the floor was not even cold. He rubbed his eyes and untangled himself from the blankets taking a moment to work out where he was.

This must be the Temple of Time. This was where Zelda had said they were going. They must have carried him or something. He was grateful, but he felt like he had overstayed his welcome. He stretched, letting the sun from a window high up on the wall clean his bandaged arms with sunlight, but as he did, little shadows of the first snowflakes were going by, already the windowsill was covered in the white stuff. He placed the blanket back on the bed as best as his headache allowed him to and he began to walk to the closed door, his footing rather unstable and soon was on the floor again.

"Do you have any idea what happened last night?" a voice asked, one that made all the hair on the back of his neck stand to attention. Link swallowed hard and turned sat back up, much slower this time as two black spots were the only things he could really see no matter how much he moved his head.

He shook his head slowly.

"I thought as much." the voice muttered, a woman came partially into his view wearing a purple robe, she could have been standing next to him and he would not have seen her. "You know where you are, silent boy?"

Link nodded and tried to get back to his feet only to feel a hand push against his back, supporting him from a fall.

"My name is Impa. I am the Sage of Shadow." the woman conversed sitting Link down on the bed. "I took care of you last night. It was royals that rescued you; you owe them your thanks."

Link nodded and laid against the pillows that Impa had replaced

"As a Sheikah, I have learned the ways of shadow; no one can hide truth in their hearts as they can their minds." Impa began "Last night I studied your worried heart, see?" she lifted Link's shirt up to show what appeared to be a scabby tattoo of a crying eye over his heart.

Link widened his eyes and put a hand over the mark in a panic, Impa put her hands over his shaking ones

"It's not permanent." Impa spoke putting a hand on his cheek "It shouldn't last longer than three days."

Link nodded and let out a soft sigh

"Anyway, that is there because it shows I've looked at it. You don't have a heartbeat's worth of greed in your heart. But that wasn't what startled me last night; you seem to be the man of the house, but..."

Link glanced in her direction in surprise, widening his eyes with a little hope

"Where is your father?"

Link stared forward, his hopeful expression turned into a frown, gradually falling into a state of sorrow

"I see. It must be an awful memory to have lost him." Impa mumbled putting a hand on his shoulder,

He let out a sob into the pillow; Impa gave him a concerned look

"Son, what's wrong?" she asked kneeling down,

Link sniffed and shook his head

"I understand your situation, but you're not well enough to leave this room." Impa spoke brushing his hair to the side along with a few crystalline tears "I've sent Cole down to check on them."

He seemed to relax a touch.

"Oh, and we have someone who's been dying to see you for a while." Impa said opening up the door to let a puppy covered in a thin layer of snow roll in. Link opened his arms out to her, allowing her, once again to cover him in dog kisses. Dirt covered her feet like they were in boots and her little nose had a small mountain of dirt on it from digging, where, he could not say. He just hoped it was not somewhere important.

_Please_ not somewhere important.

"She was howling most of the night for you; she knew where you were but ended up sitting there all night, watching the door I think." Impa chuckled tutting at the sight of the dirty paw prints on the floor. Link winced at them but Impa just shook her head. "Zelda will be on her way soon. Though Pippa will keep you company, just send her if you need anything. I'll get you something to eat."

Link nodded and in a flash of yellow and white light she was gone, half blinding him and Pippa who had hidden under the bed in fright.

It was late afternoon before Zelda was shown in, she wore a black cloak over her clothes to visit him. After giving him a vial of red potion for his arms, he lay back on the pillows, Pippa playing bodyguard between them by lying at his side, her head on his stomach, letting him stroke her back in little circles. Zelda knew that Pippa was keeping a close eye on her; she was getting too close to her master for comfort.

Link zoned out as she chatted away to him, making him give her a blank stare when she asked a question. He was exhausted. Zelda had explained it to him; the only reason he never felt tired is because he was so busy doing chores or feeding his family or running away from the guards; now that he had slowed down; all the energy he had lost over doing the jobs had just been realized and was making him weak and tired. A few days off was all he really needed.

Zelda put a hand on his cut arm and rubbed her fingers across it, much to the growl of Pippa. She had never met a boy like him; though his silence was to be expected, his emotions had no boundaries, letting him be as equally part of the conversation as she was; though she could tell he was starting to get tired.

"Hey, Link?" she mumbled keeping her eyes on Pippa in his arms, Link looked up at her, his eyes staring into hers, though he could not see them very well. "When I was younger, Mother used to tell me stories when I wasn't feeling well. Would you like me to tell you a story?"

Link smiled and blew some hair out of his eyes; Pippa turned her attention to him and snorted.

Zelda smiled back, one reaching from ear to ear "Okay!"

Pippa jumped down and trotted outside, it made both of them giggle at the fact that she was getting really jealous and it showed.

"Alright, lean back and listen." Zelda began, clearing her throat. "_Long ago, when people known as the Hylia Children first stepped onto the solid ground, they made a small settlement, that place was to be called Hyrule after many years of work. During the building of their settlement, a boy, a little older than us was walking through the woods one day and fell down into a grove; this place was beautiful, filled with flowers and plants that were the greenest he had ever seen, he walked down the grove till he came upon a nest, centuries old. Inside the nest were four speckled eggs the size of him and each one a different colour, one had red speckles, one had blue, one had yellow and one had green. When he got into the nest, three of the eggs cracked open; showing three huge birds the size of horses with feathers as soft as well, feathers. The boy was startled at first but was welcomed into the nest by the birds, ones which were soon named Arrow Birds. Why? They gave him arrows that were so powerful they could melt the coldest ice, freeze the hottest fire and light the darkest night, even so, no one knows what became of the forth egg, the green one._ What do you think, Link?"

Link was fast asleep, his arms by his sides.

"That used to happen to me too. I would never hear the end of the story." Zelda chuckled jumping off the bed and pulling the covers up to Link's neck. She ran a hand through his hair to brush it out of his closed eyes and sighed, was it because he was poor that she had feelings for him? Why when she was in his company did she feel safe, guarded? Why did he trust her so? And…did he like her more than her crown? Being silent was something that she wished more people would have; it made him a good listener. She growled as he turned away, slamming the door so hard that it shook; yet Link just turned over with a mumble.

"Now, now, child." a voice chuckled, one that was high pitched, holding laughter in every word. Zelda shook her head and slapped the air with a hand; the voice was one that belonged to a child itself, one younger than her too. "No need to get all annoyed at him."

"Who are you to say that I am annoyed at him. I'm annoyed at myself." Zelda moaned leaning against the wall, the voice's owner came into view, she was shorter than Zelda with tufts of green hair sticking out under her autumn leaf hood and a pair of clear blue eyes stared out through a smaller version of the white mask.

"Can I ask why?" she asked

"I don't know why myself." Zelda muttered leaning on her hand, leaning her elbow on a raised knee

"I fell in love with an outsider once." the girl giggled lowering her hood "I had known him since he was a baby."

"Saria!" a shrill voice screamed "Help!"

The girls turned their heads to see a little green ball of light fly through a little flap in the wall and hide in the lowered hood of the green haired child. A head stuck through the flap, a little furry face with a big pink nose, her tongue sticking out and her breath panting from chasing

"It's just Link's dog. She's nothing to worry about, Arbori." Saria spoke as Pippa dashed in, watching the grey ball flutter just out of reach. She knew not to jump on two-legged but the ball was fast and did not need to be brought back, though it was not tasty at all.

"I don't care! She's chased me all over the gardens!" Arbori wailed clinging onto some leaf green strands of Saria's hair. Her stained glass window wings flattened against her tiny body encased in green light; "She nearly swallowed me!"

Saria smiled and took off her mask "She's a dog; and a puppy of that, she's bored and you make a pretty good sized ball."

"I am NOT a ball!" Arbori cried ducking into the safety of Saria's robe. Pippa sat down, that ball had to come out eventually.

Zelda sighed and called Pippa over, who after some grumbling, came to her side, cocking her head in question. "He's not an outsider to you."

"Link? He is no Kokri, nor is he a Sage. Neither of them were." Saria shrugged

"No, I mean, I'm royalty, no matter how much I wish otherwise, I can't consort with his kind." Zelda groaned

"Oh really?" Saria giggled, Zelda did not like that look one bit. "I can see it, you do have feelings for him. Why save him from the cells? Why not call the guards on your first meeting?"

"You know about that?" Zelda winced

"Impa and I are closer than you think. Anyway, what's stopping you from being friends with Link?"

"I'm royalty mingling with the poorest of the poor, that isn't a red flag?"

"My friend broke into your castle when we were children." Saria whispered "He was friends with the Queen."

"M-Mother?! She was friends with a commoner then tells me off for the same thing?!"

"But I don't see why you can't be friends with Link. He is different than a simple commoner."

"How?!"

"His eyes are purple. He is a 'Half-Shadow' to put it in Impa's words."

"Half-Shadow?!"

"He was a gift to them, something that is impossible to bring to this land. To put it simply, he has a Hylian mother and a Sheikah father."

Zelda nearly jumped out of her skin at Saria's words. She knew that when another race had a child to the Sheikah, the child would never live past the first day; their bodies unable to live in day or night. Link however, had gone way past this rule.

The question that came into her head was why, why had he lived past this point or more to the point…_how?_

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Well, there we have it. PURPLE EYES MEAN SOMETHING! And now you know why they are that colour, why did they not show up till now? and of course you have that question at the end there; _how_ OOH! So Link has a Shadow Folk father? Doesn't it seem odd that Link did not even know this? Like someone is trying to hide this fact and replace it with a lie? Why would someone want to do that? Till next chapter!


	10. Bad Questions and Pink Lights

**Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART**.

Chapter Ten - Bad Questions and Pink Lights

Link let out a moan and opened his eyes to tiny slits; his eyelashes were covered in sleep

"Link?" a female voice spoke, a face blocked his view of the room. He closed his eyes fully for a moment before snapping them open in shock. Zelda's forehead was pressed against his own he swallowed hard to the point that an audible gulp was heard; Zelda meanwhile, held a steady glare and Pippa was nowhere in sight. "Why didn't you tell me that you were part Sheikah?"

Link shrugged, giving her a confused glance as he did so, what was she talking about?

"You have purple eyes. You are Half-Shadow! Why did you lie by saying you weren't a Sheikah?!" Zelda roared

Link groaned into his pillow, wishing with all his might that something would come to his aid.

"Are you trying to wake the whole Temple?" a frosty voice asked, the body leaning on the door frame

"Tell him, Impa!" Zelda shouted, pulling at Link's collar "He lied!"

Impa gave her a confused expression "Don't shout at him. He didn't know."

Link gave a small sigh of relief and sank into the pillows

"How can you not notice purple eyes?!" Zelda groaned jumping off the bed; Link shot up and moaned, she had elbowed him in the stomach.

"Very simple when they were blue." Impa muttered, a frown appearing. Zelda chewed her lip before turning to face Link again, Pippa trotted in through the open door and hopped onto the bed, curling up on Link's lap with a sigh "Powerful magic or natural disguise, I'm not sure."

"Link, how are you alive?" she whispered,

Link cocked his head and let out a short chuckle not understanding her question; she saw his glance and sighed.

"When Sheikah and another race have a child together; the baby never survives the night or day that follows; their bodies unable to function in sun or shadow. But you, you have broken the natural law, how?!"

He lowered his head with a shrug; Pippa licked his cheek

"I think we should get you mother to tell you about your heritage, you are a new race! Imagine what you can do for this world!" Zelda giggled lifting her ears and slapping her hands on his shoulders

Link shook his head and stroked Pippa's back, she sighed again and licked his hand

"Why not?!" Zelda shrieked shaking his shoulders, Pippa gave her a threatening growl, but Link warned her from taking it further

"Though I may be the last of my race in Hyrule, who's to say that I am in other lands?" Impa spoke, offering Pippa a piece of meat "Shadow Folk don't take kindly to Half-Shadow."

Link rubbed his throat and widened his eyes; everyone wanted his head these days

"Oh." Zelda mumbled "But that still doesn't answer on how you broke the law of nature."

Link shrugged again, Zelda revived another warning growl from Pippa. The pair locked eyes, the more that Zelda questioned Link, the more Pippa would snarl. Highly suspect.

"Well, as Princess, I order you to take me to your mother." Zelda spoke, folding her arms.

Link sniggered and gave her a funny look

"I know that sentence sounds wrong but c'mon! I want to know! Where's your sense of adventure?! You have the name of a great man!" Zelda spoke, something seemed to click; Link chewed his lip and stared at his feet

"She does have a point." Impa informed "And you have ice arrows, there are many questions there."

Link stood up with a sigh, what did he have to lose?

"Yay! I'll get us some horses!" Zelda cheered rushing out. Link rubbed his temples and looked at Impa through his fingers, narrowing his eyes jokingly

"Alright, I took her side." Impa laughed, staring into Link's eyes, watching them decide on colour, to either be as blue as the ocean or as purple as the grape. "Link, you can't be expected to ride with plastered arms, so I'll give you a secret that he told me."

Link gave her his full attention; Pippa raised her head from between her paws, taking more interest than normal in conversation

"There is something called a Fairy Fountain near the castle, you can pose as a Training Sage to get past the guards around the grounds; you can heal your injuries fully there." Impa whispered, taking Link's hand in hers, her smile turned upside down, Link squeezed her hand and cocked his head, similarly to the way that Pippa did on the bed "I am the last of the Sheikah in Hyrule as I have said, but I know and hope that I am not the last of the Sheikah in the world. If you do find out where your father is, tell me. I would be humbly grateful."

Link nodded and put a hand on his left eye, sliding it down his cheek. Impa flinched but did the same; after which, Link signaled Pippa to his heel and the pair walked away to the Fairy Fountain dressing up in a robe on the way.

Impa leaned against the wall with a heavy sigh; Saria came into view, Arbori sitting high on her shoulder to avoid being chased by Pippa; the dog did not even lift her head.

"What's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost." Saria asked, Arbori fluttered down and landed on Impa's shoulder

"Link used a teardrop promise. I don't know where he could have learned that. It's kept to the Sheikah tribes." Impa mumbled

"I know it and I'm not a Sheikah." Saria shrugged. Impa lowered her head but then raised it sharply.

"Something's wrong." Impa spoke, her voice almost a whisper "The air turned cold for a moment."

"I felt it too." Saria hissed hugging her shoulders "Arbori, look around for anything abnormal on the grounds."

The fairy nodded and fluttered her wings.

Link refused the mask and wore his own; the feeling of the feathers was comforting on his skin. Though he missed home, he felt like there was a danger around every corner, even more so since the chopping block and axe was still waiting in the plaza as he passed, the metal of the axe gleaming off the moon that shone through the snow clouds. Pippa walked at his side, her tiny footprints barely crunching on the snow unlike his, she had never seen snow before. The streets were quiet and peaceful, many lights were out and slumbering folks were hidden within the gentle shadows that the night provided, snow still fluttered down from the sky, landing on his warm face and melting into fake tears; Pippa tried to catch the falling snowflakes till some snow fell from a roof nearby, coating her in the white stuff. Link laughed as she dug through it, shaking the snow from her coat as she burst through, her face white.

Link shivered and looked around, something did not feel right. The air had turned as cold as death, filling the streets with mist as it did so; Pippa whined with concern and pawed his legs to be lifted up, but Link sliced the air, coming down to her instead, a gentle blue light passed by; one with the white eyes he was familiar with. Link waved a hand, but Pippa broke into a snarl, arching her back and straightening her tail, the light passed by and flew into a house, the thick winter curtains parted with a whoosh as it got close. But then, just like that, the mist cleared and heat started to come back to him. Pippa continued to growl, this time her nose was to the house the light had gone in, she was backing up snarling through her teeth till she hit Link's legs. He swallowed hard and dashed away from the plaza.

Unbeknownst to him, a little green bird with silver wings watched him from a rooftop, its tiny claws clinging onto a chimney pot. It spread out its wings and then tucked them back in, the silver tips of its feathers slowly started to change colour, almost to an ice blue as it turned its tiny head, focusing its black eyes on the boy. The bird seemed to smile, the corners of its beak turning up.

Link continued to run all the way to the castle gates, but as he was about to reach the guards that walked along the trench they had made in the snow; something grabbed the sash of the robe, showing an enormous feat of strength they pulled him to the safety of some old vines, ones that were decades old, their leaves covered in snow. He lost his balance and crashed to the floor.

"I finally found you!" Arbori panted landing on his head with a gasp "Saria sent me to look for strange things about the Temple of Time. And nothing is stranger than you two. I overheard Impa telling you about the Fairy Fountain; there is a faster way."

Link glanced up as the fairy leaned over, grabbing a few strands of his hair and placing her feet on the bridge of his nose

"You do know I can carry huge weight, right?" Arbori asked placing one hand on her hip

Link nodded, tying the sash of his robe.

"If can pull you along the ground; imagine what more of me could do." Arbori smirked placing a thumb and finger into her mouth; though her face nearly went red with blowing so hard, no sound came.

Link glanced down to Pippa, she was bringing her forepaws over her nose; her ears lifted as she did so, he had never seen her do that before.

"Just give it a moment." Arbori whispered landing on the ground. Her light was shining bright in the dark; he hoped it would not give them away.

She was joined by another light, a baby pink one; it floated down from the sky on short, stubby wings that were totally different from Arbori's huge, heavy ones. Another of the same colour came down; landing slowly and gently on Link's shoulder before sliding down to his broken wrist, he felt their tiny fingers unravel the careful, if not slightly dirty bandaging. Another pink light came into view, landing on his cut arm; their tiny feet finding every cut and scar there.

On Link's count there were thirteen fairies, including Arbori. They all surrounded him, grabbing anything their hands could seize in their grip; clothing, hair, fingers, anything. Pippa sat still as some even floated around her; though she did not attack as they slid under her stomach, three fairies lifted her gently off the ground holding her up enough for Link to see their power

"Alright, one, two, three!" Arbori ordered, Link felt tiny pairs of hands pull on what they had grabbed; their wings humming under his weight but even so, he was moving, the tiny creatures carrying both him and Pippa up off the ground with steady control.

He smiled as the fairies stopped their ascent into the sky and began to fly him slowly forward; the cliff they passed was filled with tiny pink flowers, each one bright and glittery in the fallen snow, as he passed them, he felt like he was increasing in speed, flying faster and with much more control, he looked around, he was sure he had counted thirteen, now there was at least twenty two and more were appearing from the flowers. They _were_ the flowers. The guards were distracted by the sight of a few fairies dancing in front of their faces to watch the boy and pup fly into a small hole in the rock walls.

He stayed their till morning. Long after the sun rose just watching the pink balls of light fly around him, mending his clothes of holes without a needle and thread, washing his hair without soap, healing his wounds without medicine, even Pippa lay down to let the tiny hands scrub her coat clean. He was relaxed here and they were with him; though all he could hear were their bell-like voices and the gentle humming of their wings, he was calm, so calm that he lay on his back inside the cave, one that was lit gently with silver flames, water soaked though his clothes but he did not really mind, the water was nice and warm, but very shallow. Which begged the questions where was it coming from and where was it going?

He shut his eyes and then opened them slowly again, a pink fairy landed on the tip of his nose; he got a glimpse of her, a young lady in appearance wearing a short sleeved top and puffy skirt that looked like it had been made out of the end of a lily, in her long pink hair she had a tiny daisy, no bigger than the nail on his smallest finger.

"I remember you." she whispered sitting on his nose

Link blinked hard, her voice was unusually clear

"You were born here, so was your sister." she spoke

Link turned alert and sat up so quickly that the fairies around him jumped

"We kept your mother alive." the fairy said with a smile

Link lay back down and looked at the ceiling, his eyes unblinking. Pippa shook off the fairies and padded over, sitting down next to him, he let out a light laugh and stroked her chin. His eyelids began to feel heavy as Pippa lay down, snuggling into Link's side as he settled. The pair of them fell asleep in the water, knowing that if anything did come after them, the fairies would warn them.

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

'Take me to your mother!'...That's a question. So, Link was born in a Fairy Fountain, is that how he is alive or is there something else at work? Who is the green bird? Is that from the story Zelda told him last chapter or are there other things watching him, both good an evil? Speaking of which, Pippa didn't bark at him, did she ignore him or did she not smell him? OOH, plot elements!

How am I doing? Are you enjoying the story so far? We are not even started yet!


End file.
